When Civilizations Meet
by Generatedname
Summary: The Ethereals, the Aquatoids, the Micronoids. Humanity has faced them all, and come out stronger. The Humans have left their world, exploring the stars, their technology built on Alien corpses. How will they react when they meet a peaceful society, one that is both advanced and primitive? Only time will tell, as XCOM and the Council meet in a galaxy soon to be shattered.
1. Timeline- 2015-2157

**A/N- I am currently struggling with a writer's block with regards to A Special Task, so I've decided to release the timeline and codex of this fic. It'll be on a back burner until I can finish Special Task, so don't expect updates unless I'm struggling with the aforementioned fic.**

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The following is a timeline of Humanity's advancement since the first alien war.

October 21st, 2015- A daring assault on the Ethereal 'Temple Ship' ends, as a 6 man XCOM squad successfully eliminates the alien's leader. In a final act of revenge, the so called 'Uber Ethereal' attempts to transform the ship into a black hole, only to be stopped at the last second by Colonel Daniel Shepard. Shepard sacrifices himself, destroying the ship before it could become a singularity, the day being remembered as VS day. A single hyperwave transmission is recorded before the ship is destroyed, aimed at an unknown area in the Gulf of Mexico. Nothing is found in the area. Technology gained by humanity: Meld (used for advanced prosthetics and genetic modifications), Elerium, Alien Alloys, Plasma, laser and fusion weaponry, Cloaking devices, gravity wave propulsion, psionics, hyperwave communication, and much more.

October 26th, 2015- An Ethereal 'Overseer' class craft appears in atmosphere. It transmits a hyperwave signal signifying its occupants' willingness to sue for peace. Upon landing, the XCOM team sent to meet it is met by a delegation of Ethereals, Mutons, and a Cyberdisc. They express their utmost gratitude towards XCOM for freeing them from the 'Overlord', or the Uber Ethereal killed onboard the Temple ship. Although greeted with skepticism, the aliens do nothing to invalidate their claims. When asked about other races, such as the Sectoids and Thin Men, the Ethereal's response was that due to the extensive genetic rewrite of said species, they had been rendered sterile, and had died within a week of the Temple ship's destruction, as the ship contained the main clone bay for said races. The alien surrender is accepted, and they begin the long, slow process of integrating themselves with human society.

December 1st, 2015- XCOM is officially de-classified, and is revealed to the public. XCOM Memorial begins construction in Geneva. The memorial commemorates all lives, XCOM and otherwise, all 2.3 billion of them, lost in the Ethereal war. Presence of surrendered aliens is also revealed, with public outrage following. Much of the technology discovered/reverse engineered by XCOM is disclosed to the public, with several corporations beginning to develop a thriving augmentation industry, developing expensive gene mods and cybernetics.

January 23rd, 2016- Forever known as Unification day, all of Earth's major nations, as well as many smaller ones, unify together under one government, the council formerly guiding earth's defense.

February 1st, 2016- Humanity, with alien aid, begins to re-appropriate the thousands of alien craft in orbit around earth. Hundreds of alien battleships, abductors, scout craft, and supply barges, as well as new UFO types, have been recovered successfully. XCOM becomes the new world military, with alien warships being pressed into the newly formed Terran Navy.

April 11th, 2016- Much of the public outcry about the liberated aliens has died down, allowing said aliens to begin working together with human companies, as well as with XCOM, to develop new technology. Among the knowledge shared with humanity is the knowledge of synthesizing Alien Alloys, now known as Etherite, as well as the ability to produce Meld, Outsider Crystals, and Elerium. The ability to create Meld significantly reduced the cost of Gene mods, allowing the general public to have access to them, as well as opening up a huge market for both civilian grade and military grade Gene mods. Genetic modification becomes widespread in the civilian population over the next month. Meanwhile, Elerium based technology makes most pre-alien war tech obsolete, with corporations diving head over heels to acquire as many elerium tech patents as possible.

March 10th, 2018- Psi-testing of human population reveals that approximately 85% of the human population is psionic, and that number is increasing rapidly. Psionic classes become mandatory in all schools across the world.

April 13th, 2018- While studying Meld, a startling discovery is made. Meld allows for gene mod integration by re-writing the subject's very genetic code so that it perceives the genetic modification as normal. This discovery reveals that Gene mods are hereditary, and are dominant traits, allowing for said genetic modifications to rapidly become widespread. Gene mod prices balloon up, as corporations find out that if mods continue to be cheap, then they would go out of business in a few generations. In addition, this discovery shows that military grade gene mods, such as mimetic skin and adrenal neurosympathy will become widespread among the civilian population.

September 5th, 2021- An unidentified submersible craft is seen in the gulf of mexico. XCOM begins investigation, which turns up nothing.

June 8th, 2022- XCOM Memorial is finally completed, with the current leader of the liberated Ethereals giving a speech expressing his people's gratitude towards XCOM for their newfound freedom.

November 19th, 2025- The Coral Queen, a cruise liner, disappears in the pacific ocean. XCOM investigation finds that an unidentified submarine, similar to the one spotted in 2021, was involved. XCOM begins work on aquatic combat technology.

July 5th, 2029- Dr. Raymond Shen dies. The elderly engineer was mourned by all surviving alien war veterans, and was buried at the XCOM Memorial Cemetary.

April 8th, 2041- Second alien war begins. A race of aliens related to the Sectoids begin massive aquatic assault of human ports and water travel. XCOM aquatic division retaliates, and the war begins. Coastal cities are evacuated within weeks of the war's beginning.

September 10th, 2041- Humans discover the location of an underwater alien city ship, the T'leth. It serves as the alien base of operations on earth, and it has only just started to activate.

February 28th, 2042- A human team is sent down to the T'leth in a new Leviathan heavy submarine. The alien ship is destroyed after 3 days of fighting. The second alien war is over. The destruction of the T'leth, however, is catastrophic for the aquatic environment, with massive tsunamis sweeping out of the gulf of mexico, and millions of tons of contaminants released into both the oceans and the atmosphere. Global temperature is reduced by an average of 2 degrees Celsius for several years, causing a mini ice age. Aquatic ecosystems are devastated, and billions of dollars in damage is done by tsunamis. Civilian casualties, however, were much lower than those from the previous war, as most of the coastal cities were evacuated to landlocked safe zones. Ecological damage forces humanity to think of colonizing other worlds. Technology gained from the war- Molecular control (aquatoid equivalent of psionics), Aqua plastics, Zrbite (an easier to produce elerium equivalent), sonic weaponry, significant amounts of combat gene mods.

December 1st, 2042- Mandatory combat courses for 6 year olds and up are added to the education system. All terran citizens, of all species, must then serve for at least 6 years in the Terran Armed Forces. Combat grade gene mods from the first war are, by now, almost universal within the human population, as are psionic abilities.

March 8th, 2048- Future Terran city of Mega Primus is established on a terraformed mars.

March 25th, 2048- Exploration team discovers alien information cache on mars. It belonged to an as of yet unknown race called the Protheans. Terran military spending increases threefold after this discovery, as the people of Earth become wary of a third alien invasion. Mass effect technology, as well as element zero, is discovered. Mass effect based personal weaponry becomes available on the market soon afterwards. However, mass effect tech is deemed inferior to fusion and elerium based technology.

October 16th, 2056- Mega Primus is completed, with a population already over 1 billion people. Due to lack of regulations, Mars becomes a corporate paradise.

May 19th, 2057- The Cult of Sirius makes its presence known. The organization, rumored to be an offshoot of the infamous EXALT terrorist group, worships aliens as gods. A counter movement, known as the Inquisition, composed of anti-alien radicals, engages in warfare with said cult. Weapon corporations arm both sides, and the war ends with the Inquisition being destroyed.

December 21st, 2069- A plasma bomb goes off in the Terra Firma political party's headquarters on Mars. The Pro-human group has long been associated with the Inquisition, and the bombing is suspected to be an action by the Cult of Sirius. Not enough evidence is found to convict. The Terra Firma party never recovers, and soon ceases to exist.

August 5th, 2084- Dimensional rifts open above Mega Primus. Alien craft are seen exiting. Soon, aliens are sighted in the city, attempting to infiltrate human organizations. Due to every single human being combat trained and augmented, these actions end in predictable failure. Regardless, this is considered grounds for war, and the Third Alien War begins.

September 28th, 2084- The human fleet begins to undergo refits, allowing them to enter the alien dimensional gates. Meanwhile, alien attacks on Mega Primus begin to focus more on collateral damage, dropping overspawn and megaspawn into population centers. This only serves to piss off humanity, speeding the refit process.

November 12th, 2084- The human fleet finishes its refit program and takes the fight to the enemy. Two days later, a single message ship emerges. It transmits a simple, two word message: "We've won." The Third alien war ends. Technology acquired: Disruptor weaponry, Dimensional travel, Disruptor shields, Teleportation technology, Significant amounts of Biotechnology, Anti-alien toxins, and significant amounts of Gene mods.

June 9th, 2089- An object is discovered to be orbiting Pluto. This station is shown to have a massive element zero core, and seems to be used for near instantaneous long distance transport. It is deemed too risky to continue to exist, as it is an effective back door into human space, and is slowly broken down into component materials through use of enzymes bioengineered from those used in extradimensional alien Entropy Launchers. It is revealed to be made of an extremely strong alloy, although said alloy is extremely difficult and expensive to manufacture. As such, it is only used in construction of military vessels.

December 29th, 2100- The 5000th terran starship, the TSV Apex, is completed. It is a massive, 5 kilometer long dreadnought, armed with an extremely powerful 10 man class 50 Psi amplifier, an axial fusion lance capable of shattering a small moon, as well as massive batteries of heavy disruptors, plasma cannons, fusion lances, and laser point defense guns.

June 17th, 2119- An Ethereal scientist, Sil'ran'Earth, perfects singularity drive. Terran starships have begun refits, as the new drive gives them FTL capability. However, this FTL drive is found to still be far too slow, only capable of 50 light years per day. While humanity is now capable of exploring the local cluster, true galactic exploration remains beyond them.

May 11th, 2121- Contact is made with a race known as the Eli'ranas. The human frigate TSV Washington enters their system on a mission of exploration, and is spotted by the space station in orbit. The Eli'ranas are an insectoid race with a hive mind mentality. They were at cold war levels of technology when the Washington discovered them. They initiated contact, and requested to join the Terran Alliance. Uplift procedures began immediately.

January 15th, 2122- Hasboro's controversial kid's TV show, 'My Little Chryssalid: Fight for Earth' premiers. It is intended as a tie in for Hasboro's new genetically engineered Chryssalid pets. It quickly gains a large fanbase, and becomes the most popular children's show in Terran space. Genetically engineered Chryssalid pet sales skyrocket. The Genetically Engineered Chryssalids are bioengineered to be perfectly docile in the presence of an Alliance race, and have been engineered to look 'Cooler and Combat Ready!' by Hasboro scientists. The controversy surrounding the pets increases, as the Chryssalids are found to be actually combat ready, with 'Long Range Poison Spines' and 'Super Acid Spit' being just a few of the combat augments given to the pets. The human military buys them in bulk, to be used in conjunction with military dogs in K9 units.

September 30th, 2131- The Dimensional gate network, a human counterpart to the mass relays, begins construction.

April 6th, 2134- An Avian race is discovered in human space. The Aiva, as they are called, are in their planet's Bronze age, so contact and uplift have not yet been attempted. Aiva are a matriarchal society, with females being the dominant gender. Several XCOM explorers have been sent in to study the civilization and asses its upliftability.

March 12th, 2148- Dimensional gate network is completed. Effective FTL travel is finally available to humanity.

February 27th, 2157- Additional mass relays are discovered in human space. The Terran Alliance moves to begin eliminating them.

May 16th, 2157- The Alliance council approves the proposal to uplift the Aiva. A fleet is dispatched.

May 17th, 2157- A relay is discovered in the Shanxi system. Human ships move to destroy it and its counterparts.

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**A/N- Don't worry, I am not dropping A Special Task for this. I am just writing this to get over a writer's block, so this story will not be frequently updated until Special Task is finished. Maybe.**

**Anyway, enjoy!**


	2. UFOpaedia, Terran Alliance

XCOM- Primary human military organization. All Terran citizens are expected to serve at least 6 years in XCOM's armed forces. XCOM owns both the Army and Navy of the Terran alliance, and is responsible for both internal and external defense.

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**Terran Alliance Races**

Human- Native to Earth, they are the dominant race of the Terran alliance, with other races either being new to the alliance or not having a significant enough population to have a lot of political influence. All humans have been genetically modded extensively, and due to Meld based gene mods being hereditary, combat grade gene mods are omnipresent in the population, essentially turning each and every human into a living weapon. Humans are psionically active, their abilities second only to the Ethereals, and have been modified into living weapons. All humans undergo combat training starting at age 6, hence the saying 'A Human is always armed.' The average human lifespan is 250-400 years, depending on genetic modifications and psionic ability.

Ethereal- Ancient lifeforms, staying alive through sheer psionic ability, Ethereals were the race that invaded Earth in 2015, under psionic compulsion from a being known as the Overlord. When the Overlord was killed onboard the Temple ship, the Ethereals and their subject races were freed, allying themselves with humanity out of gratitude. Ethereals are the most powerful known psionic entities of the Terran alliance. Ethereals have the lowest population of any Terran race due to their incredibly long lifespans, reducing breeding rates.

Muton- Mutons are a race native to the Alpha Centauri system. They were conquered by the Ethereals only 200 years before they arrived on Earth, and thus had not yet undergone extensive genetic rewrite like the Sectoids and Reptilians had. Mutons are extremely strong physically, however, they have little to no psionic ablity. Mutons have yet to fully recover from the Ethereal attack on their world, despite reclamation efforts of their homeworld by the Terran Alliance. Mutons do not play a significant role in Alliance politics.

Cyberdisc- Perhaps the most enigmatic of the Terran Races, the Cyberdiscs are a silicon based lifeform that seems to almost be a naturally evolved AI. The Ethereals were able to re-program them during their conquest, transforming them into different forms of combat drones, such as Seekers and the more traditional Cyberdisc chassis. Cyberdiscs are capable of interfacing with almost any computer system, and are built, rather than born.

Eli'ranas- An insectoid race discovered in human space, the Eli'ranas have multiple castes, each designed for a specific role in their hives. Although each drone is intelligent, they obey the Eli'ranas queens. They possess a weak psionic capability.

Aiva- Called 'Bird People' by some, the Aiva are a primitive avian race still in their planet's bronze age. The Aiva have been selected for uplift by the Alliance council. Several ships have been dispatched to begin uplift procedures. Perhaps the most interesting characteristic of the Aiva is the extreme sexual dimorphism exhibited. While Females are similarly sized with humans, with elaborately colored plumage, the males are small, drab creatures. In addition, only a fifth of the Aiva population is male, leading to males being given ceremonial protection, being generally removed from society, living in secluded monasteries. Psionic potential of Aiva is unknown.

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**Terran Technology**

Plasma Weaponry- Manufactured for XCOM use only, Plasma weapons fire powerful jets of superheated plasma. Plasma weapons are the mainstay of XCOM soldiers, and use Elerium 115 as an ammunition source. In space combat, however, plasma weaponry is only useful in short range combat, capable of burning through hull armor easily, but dissipating in long range engagements.

Elerium Clip- The Elerium clip is the universal ammunition source of all plasma based weaponry. The clip gathers plasma from the surrounding air, allowing for an effectively infinite ammunition supply for human weapons, although the gathering process is slow, necessitating soldiers to carry several clips for reloading purposes.

X-32 Plasma assault rifle- The standard issue assault rifle of the XCOM army. Firing in 2 shot bursts, the X-32 has 60 shots per clip. The gun is used by both assault and support troops.

SX-89 Plasma Sniper rifle- The SX-89 utilizes holographic scope technology, and is effective for up to 3 kilometers. The Rifle clip holds 10 shots, and is capable of overcharging its shots, turning it into a long range explosive launcher. The SX-98 is used by XCOM snipers.

HX-22 Plasma LMG- The HX-22 is a direct descendant of the Heavy Plasma used in the Ethereal war. The HX-22 overcomes the ammunition problem that its predecessor suffered from, carrying 100 shots per clip. While inaccurate, it is popular with XCOM Heavies, and is capable of overcharging itself, turning itself into a plasma flamethrower.

SGX-44 Plasma Shotgun- The SGX-44 is the first plasma shotgun to enter service with XCOM, replacing the popular Alloy Cannon. Although greeted with skepticism by XCOM soldiers, the 'Pulsar', as it came to be known, soon came to be very well regarded by XCOM troops. The weapon emits a short range cone of plasma, incinerating everything in its path. Alloy Cannons have been authorized for civilian use. The SGX-44 holds 15 shots per clip.

SMX-3 Plasma SMG- Based off of Ethereal Light plasma rifles, which were made obsolete early in the war, they fire small bolts of plasma in rapid, 3 shot bursts. This weapon is very accurate, and is a popular sidearm with XCOM troops. The SMX-3 holds 50 shots per clip.

PX-12 Plasma Pistol- The Standard issue sidearm used by XCOM troops, the PX-12 is unique in that it does not need reloading. Although it sacrifices stopping power, its ability to keep firing no matter what has earned it a place of honor in every XCOM soldier's arsenal.

LX-10 Plasma Cannon- The LX-10 is the standard vehicle armament in the XCOM arsenal, which is used in everything, from the M35 Mako tanks, to the F-29 Firestorm Fighter. Its absorber system allows it to fire indefinitely.

Fusion Weapons- Fusion weapons are the most powerful guns in the Terran arsenal. A Fusion Lance fires a stream of Deuterium/Tritium particles at near light speed, causing them to begin nuclear fusion on impact with a target. They have yields ranging from several kilotons to hundreds of megatons of explosive power. Fusion lances are the standard weapons onboard terran starships.

BX-15 Blaster launcher- The BX-12 fires small fusion warheads, and is the primary anti-armor weapon of XCOM. The Blaster launcher is equipped with a sophisticated targeting system, allowing the weapon's projectile to follow the target almost anywhere. Blaster launcher shots have been tested in massive labyrinths, with a tagged target inside them. The blaster shots followed the target, and confirmed a kill 100% of the time. If tagged by a Blaster launcher, your best bet is to pray to whatever deity you worship in the last few seconds of your life. A Blaster bomb NEVER abandons its target.

L-9 Fusion lance- The L-9 is the smallest fusion lance in the XCOM arsenal, being mounted on the Griffon MBTs as their main armament. It is known as the 'mini nuke', due to the characteristic mushroom cloud created by its detonation.

Disruptor weaponry- A Disruptor gun propels a beam of sub-atomic particles at relativistic speeds. The particles are generated by an extradimensional device inside, effectively giving it infinite ammunition. Disruptor weaponry is a new addition to the XCOM arsenal, coming from the third alien war. Disruptor beams are replacing the plasma cannons previously present on human warships.

DC-2 Disruptor cannon- The DC-2 is an infantry disruptor gun, popular with XCOM support troops. Its limitless ammunition allow for effective suppressing fire, making the DC-2 an effective LMG for XCOM troops.

Laser Weaponry- Originally developed during the first alien war, laser technology has been authorized for civilian distribution. Laser guns are produced by MARSEC corporation, in direct competition with MEGAPOL's Mass effect weapons. Laser weapons fire concentrated beams of coherent light, and do not require ammunition. Laser weapons are used in school combat training.

Mass effect weaponry- MEGAPOL's Mass Effect weapon lines are produced for the civilian market, being deemed underpowered when compared to plasma or disruptor tech. Mass effect fields are used to propel a small projectile out of the barrel at extremely high velocity. Mass effect weapons have made the Gauss guns of the second alien war obsolete.

Sonic weapons- Sonic weaponry is the main armament of XCOM's aquatic division. The S-45 Sonic Rifle is the mainstay of the XCOM Aquanauts. Sonic weapons release an extremely high frequency sound wave, capable of vibrating targets apart.

XCOM Colossus Armor- Colossus armor is the latest in terran armor tech. Built from Alien Alloys, it combines the armors of the first alien war, with technological advancements from subsequent wars. Colossus armor is vaccum sealed, with Ionized plates for additional aquatic mobility. It uses a MARSEC designed antigravity pack to allow for powered flight in combat. In addition, disruptor shielding, a personal teleporter, a grappling cable, and an elerium based cloaking device are built into the hardsuit. Synth-muscle fibers make up the interior of the armor, augmenting the wearer's strength and agility. An Elerium generator provides power to the whole thing. The helmet has a built-in mind shield and psi-amp, with an advanced HUD used to provide targeting information. Standard issue to all XCOM soldiers. Finally, multiple hardpoints are present on the armor for various XCOM grenades. This armor is designed to allow for unhampered use of most gene mods, allowing for full body protection without compromising advantages such as Mimetic Skin. Finally, an outsider crystal is capable of creating hard-light barriers for additional protection.

Handheld Psi-amp- The Handheld psi-amp is used by human and ethereal psi-specialists. It is the size of an assault rifle, and designed to increase the wielder's psionic ability by a factor of 50. A skilled soldier is able to use it to mind control entire squads of enemies, as was proven during the Third Alien War during the battle in the Alien Dimension.

Toxigun- The Toxigun fires toxic darts, loaded with an agent's toxin of choice. Toxin E is the latest in Anti-alien toxins, capable of killing any non-terran lifeform in seconds.

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**Post-War Human Gene Mods**

Advanced Ocular Implants- An advancement based on Sectoids, the Advanced Ocular Implants allow for humans to manually control their eyesight, allowing for human eyes to zoom in on something for up to 30x magnification. Extremely well received by XCOM snipers.

Toxin Glands- A set of small glands based off of the Thin Man species, they allow for humans to spit toxic gas.

Organic Cyber Interface- The OCI, as it is more commonly known, came from the Cyberdisc species. This gene mod allows for humans to interface directly with most computers.

Chryssalid Husbandry implants- The CHIs are mandatory implants for all Terran Alliance species. Taking mere seconds to integrate with the implantee's body, they emit low power psionic fields calming all Chryssalids nearby, turning them into docile pets, easily ordered around. Stronger variants are available for K9 units, who use Chryssalids alongside Dogs in warfare.

Internalized Mind Shield- While mechanical mind-shields made this implant obsolete, this ethereal based implant is useful in shielding humans from almost all psi-attacks.

Internalized Psi-amp- While the IPA isn't nearly as powerful as handheld human psi-amps, it is present in all humans, amplifying their psionic abilities.

**Post Second Alien War Gene Mods**

Molecular Control Resistance- During the second alien war, it rapidly became clear that the Aquatoids possessed a form of Mind Control drastically different from the standard psionics. This Molecular Control temporarily alters the target's brain, putting the target under the MCers power. MCR Implants were developed to combat this, making XCOM aquanauts immune to it.

Aquatic Breathing Implants- Fancy talk for Gills, based off the Gillman alien life form, this allowed for XCOM troops to breathe underwater.

Stomatopod Ocular Implants- Based off the feared Lobstermen, the SOIs allow for human eyes to shift to infrared, allowing for near perfect heat vision.

Combat Vocal Cords- The Aquatoids deployed Bio-Drones, a hybrid of synthetic and organic tissue, controlled by the tortured brain of an alien. The Bio Drone's main weapon was its vocal cords, which had been augmented to fire powerful sonic blasts capable of destroying living tissue. XCOM troops have been augmented to have this ability.

Hardened Muscle Structure- Designed to counter the wide variety of melee based aliens encountered by XCOM, this mod hardens muscle, making it much harder to cut, while simultaneously increasing personal strength.

Electrical Pulse Generator- Based off of the Deep One's electrical pulse ability, the EPG mod allows for human troops to fire short range electrical pulses through use of existing bio-electric skin mods. This mod renders Arc Throwers obsolete.

Bio-Freezer mod- The Hallucinoid, a large, mutant, jellyfish used by the Aquatoids, had a chemical freezer organ implanted inside it, allowing for it to fire powerful freezing blasts. This mod takes it a step further, allowing for humans to fire Bose-Einstein condensates from specialized organs implanted inside them.

Anti-Zombification implants- Designed to counter alien Tentaculat, this mod is designed to forcibly destroy any eggs implanted into the human body.

Paralysis Induction Implants- Based off the tentacles of the Tentaculat, this mod allows for human fingers to be able to release a paralytic poison, allowing for instant immobilization of a target.

Oral Offensive Implant- Designed to enhance biting power of human soldiers, this Triscene based mod enhances bite strength, while doubling as a toxin filter.

Inkscreen Ejection- Based off of Xarquid gene mods, this allows for XCOM aquanauts to create black ink screens. While on land, this mod is capable of creating a short-lived smokescreen.

**Post Third Alien War Gene Mods**

Anti-Brainsucker Implant- After the discovery of Brainsuckers, organisms that seize control of their target through injecting micronoids. This mod fills the bloodstream with an anti-micronoid toxin.

Acid Glands- Based on alien Spitters, this allows human soldiers to spit powerful acid.

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**Terran Warships**

Apex Class Dreadnought- Armament- 1 10 man Class 50 Psi amp, 1 axial fusion lance, 20 heavy fusion lances, 150 Disruptor cannons. Compliment- 50 Firestorm Interceptors, 10 Lightning dropships. Dimensions- Length- 6.8 km. Width- 3.3 km. Height- 2.9 km. Equipped with its own cloaking device and dropship compliment, the Apex is the epitome of human ship construction. The 5 ships of this class are capable of mind controlling small fleets with massive axial psi-amps. The ship's axial fusion lance is capable of shattering a small moon with a single shot. Each ship is the flagship of one of XCOM's fleets, with the exception of the Apex itself, which serves as XCOM's mobile HQ.

Victory Class Battleship- Armament- 1 8 man Class 50 Psi amp, 1 axial fusion lance, 18 heavy fusion lances, 130 Disruptor cannons. Compliment- 20 Firestorm fighters. Dimensions- Length- 4.9 km. Width- 2.3 km. Height- 1.7 km. The Victory class is the mainstay of the Terran fleet. 1209 ships of this class exist today, each one capable of destroying multiple extradimensional alien dreadnoughts on its own. Each fleet contains hundreds of these ships.

Gladiator Class Battleship- Armament- 2 axial fusion lances, 1 6 Man class 40 Psi amp, 20 heavy fusion lances, 80 Plasma cannons. Dimensions- Length- 4.7 km. Width- 2.5 km. Height- 1.8 km. An older model of Battleship, the Gladiator class is still in service, serving as a long range fusion lance artillery ships. 524 ships are still in Terran service, the rest being decommissioned or converted to Victory class warships.

Magnificent Class Carrier- Armament- 300 Disruptor cannons, 1 10 man Class 50 Psi amp. Compliment- 300 Firestorm fighters, 100 Lightning Dropships. Dimensions- Length- 7.3 km. Width- 4.8 km. Height- 4.6 km. Capable of laying siege to an entire system, the 328 Magnificent class carriers of the Terran fleet form the core of XCOM's fighter force.

Glorious Class Cruiser- Armament- 1 6 man class 40 Psi amp, 30 fusion lances, 20 Plasma cannons, 30 disruptor cannons. Compliment- 5 Lightning dropships. Dimensions- Length- 2.3 km, Width- 1.01 km. Height- 938 meters. By far the most numerous craft in the Terran fleet, with over 3000 warships in existence, the Glorious class was designed around an alien 'Dreadnought' type UFO found in the reclamation of Earth's orbit. Many old Ethereal dreadnoughts have been re-purposed as cruisers.

Annihilator Class Frigate- Armament- 1 Fusion lance, 16 plasma cannons, 1 4 man class 40 psi amp, 20 disruptor cannons. Compliment- 1 lightning dropship. Length- 1.1 km. Width- 540 meters, Height- 380 meters. The Annihilator class frigate is an almost exact copy of the alien battleships that fought in the alien war. Aside from slight modifications, this thousand year old design continues to serve. Over 800 of these ships have been constructed or re-purposed.

F-29 Firestorm- The F-29 Firestorm is the primary fighter of the XCOM Navy. Based off of the firestorm developed in the Ethereal war, the F-29 is armed with a single fusion lance, as well as 4 plasma cannons. The Fighter also carries multiple hardpoints for Plasma bombs, and more recent models have been known to mount Disruptor cannons.

V-31 Lightning Dropship- Described by some as the love child of a Firestorm and a Skyranger, the V-31 is exactly that. Thousands of alien scout craft found in orbit were refitted into this reliable craft, equally capable of carrying troops into battle as it is of bombarding an enemy armored column with fusion lances and plasma guns. Carries 24 soldiers.

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**XCOM Ground Warfare**

M-35 Mako APC- A replacement for the M-21 Wolfhound APC used in the third alien war, the M-35 Mako is capable of carrying four 6 man XCOM teams into battle. The M-35 uses gravity wave technology to float above the ground, and is armed with an LX-10 Plasma cannon. Although some people complain that the Mako is 'Prone to doing barrel rolls at the slightest push', drivers who know how to use the vehicle's mass effect generator know better.

M-29 Griffon MBT- The M29 Griffon is armed with an L-9 Fusion lance, and is capable of devastating any opposition with its disruptor beams. The Griffon is a relic of the Third Alien War, being used in the front lines, and is capable of downing an Overspawn in a single shot.

K-9 Teams- XCOM's K-9 teams use a combination of Bio-engineered Chryssalids and Dogs to find and destroy the enemy. While the dogs, which have been engineered to have an enhanced sense of smell and an improved Oral Engagement Mechanism, (mouth) these dogs, with augmented intelligence, use Cyberdisc assisted targeting systems to deploy disruptor cannons against the enemy. The Chryssalids, meanwhile, have been improved as well. Designed not to attack anything either human or with a Chryssalid husbandry implant, they are extremely friendly and docile while in the hands of a human. However, as soon as the human tells it to attack, the Chryssalid is capable of launching acid spit, as well as massive, Toxin E producing spines, at the enemy, before closing, disemboweling, and implanting the target. The child chryssalid is engineered to die within 15 minutes of birth due to an extremely high metabolism.

Psionic Classifications- A psionic is classified with a letter-number combination. The number, ranging from 1-15, denotes the psion's raw power, while the letter determines what form of psionics the subject specializes in. The letters are K, standing for Kinetic, A, standing for Amplification, C, standing for Communication, M, standing for Multi-specialized, and U, which stands for Universal. For example, a class 10-K Psi is an averagely powerful kinetic psion. The only known U psi in existence was the Overlord, who was rated as a Class 15-U Psi. Ethereals are all M psi, ranging from 13-15 in power. Humans can be of any psionic category, excluding U psi, and range in power from 9-15. Eli'ranas are all C psi, and vary from 3-6 in strength.


	3. Prologue

**Prologue, May 17th, 2157, Aiva Homeworld**

* * *

Kalia stood on the huge stone wall, spear in her talons. Her iridescent blue plumage marked her as a member of the city of Ura'Rang's ruling family. She was the thirdborn, to be exact, and widely considered one of the most eligible females in the city. She had already laid three eggs, which were in the care of a male in the local Hatchery. She now walked along the city wall, clutching her spear, eight younger soldiers behind her. She passed a catapult, stationed on one of the towers. The two Aiva manning it made a small duty bow towards her, briefly nodding their heads before turning back to work, maintaining and calibrating the war machine. She looked out, scanning for any possible raiders or travelers, when a brief glow caught her eye. Looking up, she saw a falling star.

"Araina be praised! She has blessed us!" One of the troops behind her said. It was true. A falling star was a sign of great bounty. The Tale of Keriala, maiden of the Azure Feather, was very well known among the people of her city. It was said that Keriala found a falling star, which granted her a lump of extremely strong ore. She forged it into a blade that could cut through nearly anything, and used it to destroy her enemies. The blade was a family heriloom, passed down from mother to eldest daughter, who was, traditionally, always named Keriala. The current eldest, however, was anything but her ancestor. She was lazy, forcing her sisters to do her work for her. She was snapped out of her reverie by an unusual sight. The falling star curved around from its straight path, heading straight for the city. In a matter of moments, it was near. A sound like bubbling water filled her ears, as a strange disc flew into the city plaza.

"Stay close to me. We move on the star." She said to her squad, who were staring in awestruck wonder. They snapped out of it, taking flight, diving towards the strange disc shaped star. As they drew closer, a loud hiss emanated from the object, a bright blue glow coming out of the small hole. Then, her squad landed. Other Aiva were coming, but she was the first to lay eyes on the fallen star.

"Make way! Make way for the Queen in Waiting!" Several Aiva called, as they landed a palanquin in front of the star. Keriala exited it. Footsteps were heard from inside the star, and a strange being walked out. It had not a single feather on its body, and only a small patch of fur on its head. Its skin was light pink, making it look like a plucked male. It wore some form of dark blue clothing, with a badge pinned on the upper left section of its chest. A series of loud thumps indicated a second being exiting. Unlike the first, this one was a dark red color, a strange ridge framing its hairless head. Massive muscles made up its arms, and a pair of small, beady eyes fixed her in their stare. It wore golden robes of some kind, showing off its massive bulk. The third being to emerge hovered out, surrounded in an aura of purple energy. It wore a silver, ornamental mask, and four thin, black arms protruded from under the deep crimson robe it wore over its slender body. Then, a large silver disc floated out, unfolding into a massive creature, with a single golden eye. Finally, an insect skittered out, unclothed, its four legs quickly carrying it out of the vehicle.

The pink, hairless one spoke in an unintelligible language. An Aiva from her squad flew in, answering in that same language. As Kalia watched in horror, the feathers and beak fell away, revealing another one of the creatures. Then, the one dressed in blue glowed purple. A wave of purple energy expanded out away from it. It hit her, her sister, and every other Aiva present. Images rushed through her mind faster than she could comprehend them. Then, the creature spoke. "Can you understand me?" It addressed her. Kalia stood there, dumbfounded, for a second, before responding.

"Yes. I understand you."

"Good. I am ambassador Alexei Rozhenko, and I speak for the Terran Alliance." The creature, Rozhenko, said.

"I am honored to be in your presence, oh being from the stars." Kalia responded.

"Please, do not worship us. We are not gods. We are beings of flesh and blood, just like you. We come to give your kind the gift of our technology." Rozhenko said.

"What gift?" Keriala asked.

"We come to uplift your race. We have deemed your kind worthy of sharing the stars with us, and we come to lift you to them. We ask that one of your kind join us, as we take our craft to the ship we have in the sky. Whoever is picked will become this clan's ambassador to our people."

"Kalia will go. She is my most trusted sister, and extremely eloquent." Keriala answered.

"Very well then. Kalia, you may enter our craft." Rozhenko said.

Kalia stepped forward, her wings limp with fear. What had she done to deserve this? Suddenly, a feeling of calm swept over her. She looked at Rozhenko, whose eyes glowed a bright purple. She stepped into the craft, her talons clacking against the hard metal floor. Another star being greeted her. "This way, please. I will show you to your quarters. Several seconds later, Rozhenko stepped back into the star, and the door sealed itself shut. He gave her a smile, before walking past her, into a room in **the** center of the craft. She saw an orange glow from strange devices inside. The tall creature in the red robe then came up to her, and said in a soft voice that seemed to enter her very mind, "Greetings, new one. I am Jia'ran'Mars. I am one of the Ethereal ones. Do not be frightened. We come to give your people great gifts."

"I know, but we are just a small city-state. What have we done to deserve this?" Kalia asked.

"Not your city state in particular. I am talking about every Aiva in your world." Jia said.

"What? You're giving this to everyone?" Kalia said.

"Yes. It would not do if we only gave the gifts to one city. We wish to uplift your entire race, and that means that we are going to unify your people into one."

"But how? We cannot unify! We tried once before, and we failed because we just couldn't communicate over long distances, which began the 100 years of war! It has only just ended!"

"When we have devices that can communicate between stars instantly, fixing communications problems is childs' play. What matters is that your race tried to unify. The humans were still a loose conglomerate of separate countries when we attacked them."

"You attacked the humans? I am assuming that is Rozhenko's race. Why?"

"We were slaves to an evil Ethereal known as the Overlord. The humans freed us when they killed it. They had taken our technology, and adapted it to serve their needs. They freed us, and it is our honor to repay that debt a hundredfold."

"I see."

Just then, the craft lurched, before taking off, ascending higher and higher into the sky. Kalia looked out of the window, as the deep indigo of the night sky gave way to pure blackness. The beauty of the starfield outside nearly dropped her on her knees. As she watched, a massive ship floated into view, the craft speeding towards it. It entered the bay on the underside of the vessel, in which a small crowd of Aiva had already gathered. The smaller craft's door opened, and Kalia stepped out. She recognized a few of the Aiva inside. Alrasa, a crimson female with a stripe of gold down her back fluttered over to her, and they began to speak. Alrasa was a member of a nearby city-state, and a good friend of Kalia's. Just then, the chirping of every Aiva in the room was silenced, as Rozhenko strode up to an elevated podium.

"Welcome, everyone." His voice ended all conversation, as every Aiva in the room stared up at him. "I am very pleased that you all could join us here today. Your race has been deemed worthy to ascend into the ranks of the Terran Alliance. Although it will take several years for your kind to fully integrate with our society, we are pleased to welcome you. Every city on your homeworld, Aiviva, has sent up one representative. These representatives will make up the Aiva council, which will make decisions on your world."

"But we have already attempted to do that! It ended in a hundred years of war!" A sea green Aiva said. A chorus of agreement followed.

"Don't worry. We know why your attempt at unification failed. We have developed a solution. Our technology will allow you to communicate instantly, and clearly, with your entire world. We will begin integration immediately. All of you may now enter the chamber where we-" The ambassador began to speak, but suddenly a loud noise, accompanied by bright red lights, cut him off.

"ATTENTION ALL ALLIANCE CREW MEMBERS. 2 HOURS AGO, ONE OF THE RELAY SECURING TEAMS OUT FROM SHANXI RETURNED PREMATURELY. THEY HAD BEEN ATTACKED BY AN UNKNOWN ALIEN RACE, LOSING 2 SCIENCE VESSELS. AS OF NOW, THE TERRAN ALLIANCE IS ONCE AGAIN AT WAR. VIGILO CONFIDO." A loud voice blared all over the ship.

"What does that mean?" asked Alrasa.

"It means," The ambassador heaved a sigh, "It means that our race is, once again, at war."

* * *

**A/N: Here you go. The prologue chapter of When Civilizations Meet. Unfortunately, the first part of this fic will be a fairly standard Humans v. Turians schtick, due to the Terrans being more than a little Xenophobic. However, I will attempt to add my own twist to this story, and develop it in a unique direction. Vigilo Confido.**


	4. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1- The Relay 314 Incident**

**2 hours before Aiva contact**

* * *

"Where are those Suit-Rats? They should have entered the system by now." General Desolas Arterius muttered to himself aboard the Invincible's bridge. The Turian hierarchy had acquired the knowledge that the Quarians would attempt to activate an uncharted relay in the system, in an attempt to find an area to settle. The hierarchy had sent Arterius' task force to stop them. They had authorized lethal force.

"General. We've detected four unidentified vessels entering the system." A member of the bridge crew said.

"Good. Its the quarians. Engage them." Arterius answered.

"Sir, the ships do not match known Quarian ship profiles."

"Do you honestly think that we have a profile of every single one of those 50,000 garbage scows in the migrant fleet? Its the Quarians." General Arterius said.

"Yes Sir."

* * *

The 8 ship task force crowded around the Relay, four cloaked frigates guarding four science vessels. The science vessels' job was simple. Plant the enzyme charges, and begin collection of component materials. The frigates were there in case some X-rays decided to show their faces.

"Charge 1 is planted. I repeat, charge 1 is planted." One of the science vessels reported.

"Confirmed. What's the ETA on the remaining charges?" Captain Ronald Taylor asked from the bridge of the head frigate, the TAS Baron.

"7 minutes ETA on the remaining charges." Came the report, as teams of Mutons, Humans, and Eli'ranas secured said charges to the relay.

The ships waited in space, as the teams continued their work.

"Captain, unidentified starships have been detected. They're on an approach vector." Came the voice of his sensors officer.

"How many?" Taylor snapped to attention.

"50. All are frigate weight or smaller."

"Attempt to contact the-" Taylor began to say, before the sensors officer shouted "They've opened fire!"

"Decloak all ships, recall the science teams. Get our Psis to their amps, tell them to begin panic strikes. Raise disruptor shields!" Taylor shouted, before seconds later the first slugs impacted the science vessels.

The human science vessel was based off of an Ethereal abductor, upgraded with human tech. The ships were caught with disruptor shields down, as science teams were being recovered. A shot destroyed one, the stricken ship disappearing in a flash of green light as its elerium cores overloaded. A second ship took several hits from smaller shells, several holes in its hull. Bio-gel filled the breaches, rapidly sealing them off. The hull armor on the exterior slowly re-growing, as the bio-etherite alloy registered damage.

The human frigates decloaked, disruptor shields online, and psi-officers ready. Taylor's own ship had an Ethereal onboard, plugged into one of the 4 stations in the ship's axial psi-amp. They moved to engage the aliens, sending a message to XCOM HQ, warning them of the incoming alien fleet. Then, the human ships opened fire.

* * *

General Arterius watched as one of the quarian frigates exploded, bathing him in a strange, green light.

"Kill confirmed. The suit rats don't even have kinetic barriers!" The gunnery officer reported.

Then, the entire operation went to hell.

"SPIRITS! FOUR DREADNOUGHTS HAVE JUST APPEARED OUT OF NOWHERE!" The sensors officer cried. Less than a second later, four cruisers vanished, speared by strange lances of nuclear fire.

"Evasive manuvers! Focus fire on their... their..." His voice trailed off, as he felt an entity probing his mind. He tried to fight it, watching his crewmen do the same. He failed.

He watched cities burning, strange craft bombarding them with green fire. He watched as strange aliens were torn apart by massive insects, former comrades needing to kill their dead brethren. He saw small, grey creatures gunning down soldiers with green fire. He saw aliens killing each other, some having their heads surrounded by a purple aura. He saw cities being leveled by massive tidal waves, thousands of people drowning, or crushed, as the water reached them. Then, came the words: **NEVER AGAIN!** He saw palaven burning, thousands of alien dreadnoughts annihilating the turian fleets in orbit. He saw as turian families were torn apart, green fire consuming them. He saw alien soldiers marching through the streets of a ruined Cipritine, the corpses of dead turian soldiers lying around them. He watched his brother alive on a dissection table, alien scientists tearing through his body, while Saren screamed.

"No, please, NO!" He cried, falling to the floor, all rational thought being shoved aside, leaving room only for primal fear. He screamed, his screams echoed by many of the turians on the ship.

**RUN NOW. FLEE, AND NEVER RETURN!**

The voice in his head ordered, and he obeyed, the remainder of the Turian task force heading for the relay. As they fled, more lances of sunfire struck his ships, destroying first ten, then twenty, then thirty warships. Desolas didn't care. All that mattered was getting out of the system, before the aliens chose to kill him. His ship barely made it to the relay, green fire scorching the hull of his ship, burning through the armor plate as if it were paper. His dreadnought hit the relay, and left the system. It was the only turian ship that left the system. Only one other survived, flying straight towards the alien armada, shields down, submitting itself to the enemy.

* * *

"Two hours ago, a science team investigating a mass relay in an unknown system was a victim of an unprovoked attack by an unknown alien species. The aliens were soundly defeated, only a single frigate escaping the system. We are confident in our ability to defend our space and colonies from alien aggression, and we will begin stationing additional soldiers on Shanxi, which is the world most at risk. We thank all terran citizens involved in the Relay 314 incident, and give our condolences to the 60 people who died in the engagement. Vigilo Confido." The Terran President finished her address, the broadcast cutting off. She turned to the man next to her, standing just out of frame. "General Harper. Your job now is to ensure that Shanxi does not fall. Pray that you don't disappoint me." She said, before walking out of the room. General Jack Harper sighed, before activating his hyperwave communicator. "General Williams." He said.

The general in charge of Shanxi defense nodded in greeting, before getting straight to the point. "The troops have arrived safely. 400,000 XCOM troops, including 3000 Cataphract MECs have been stationed to defend the city. In addition to our combat-ready civilians, we have an effective defense force of 1.2 million. We have been distributing Legionary armor and laser/mass effect weaponry to civilians. Everyone is ready for combat. Nothing short of nuclear bombardment could remove us."

"What about space defense?" Harper asked.

"That is a problem. In addition to the ships involved in the 314 incident, we only have 5 other ships in system, only one of which is larger than a frigate. Our ODP station network is still under construction, with only 13 stations online at this moment. The space-front is extremely under-equipped, and it would take at least 24 hours to get any more ships into the system. If the aliens attack in that window, we cannot do much to resist." Williams said. "However, we have our ground-based defenses all operational, with orbital reaching fusion lances online and ready. If we fall, we won't go down without a fight. We have three Class 100 Psi-artillery pieces on the ground as well, which are able to hit ships in orbit with psi-attacks. According to captain Ronald Taylor, these Turians are extremely susceptible to Psi-attacks, having little to no defense against it. This indicates that they do not know about psionics, and we should not expect them in ground combat. Their ships use mass effect based accelerator cannons, with the frigate weight ship's main gun carrying a yield of approximately 38 kilotons of TNT. That was the weapon that killed the Nobel. If disruptor shields or psi barriers were up, we would have been able to deflect it." Williams said.

"Good. I am assembling a fleet to reinforce Shanxi. ETA in 36 hours."

"How many ships?"

"800."

"Good."

Harper cut the comm, before leaving the room, lighting a smoke as he did so.

* * *

The Turian dreadnought limped into dock, hull breaches evident on multiple decks. It looked as if the ship's port side had been assaulted by a massive blowtorch. It docked with the citadel, but not one turian exited the ship. Darius Claudian reflected on this as his squad moved in to investigate the ship. The door opened without any issue, and the squad moved into the ship. His team exited the airlock, and looked around. The crew was lying on the floor, faces contorted into expressions of utter terror. He knelt down next to a downed crewman, feeling for a pulse. The crewman was still alive. Darius began to stand up, before he noticed the Turian saying something under his breath. Darius bent in low to listen.

_"...again never again never again never again never again..." _The turian kept repeating the same two words under his breath, as if saying it would somehow help him.

Darius' squad moved into the ship's CIC, seeing more of the crew in similar situations. Only one had shown any signs of life, twitching as a turian accidentally stepped on its fingers. Every single one of the ship's crew had the same expression of absolute fear on their face, as if it had been etched into their faces. Darius then saw the limp form of General Desolas Arterius, in the same position as the rest of the crew. The general was muttering under his breath "_... never return, flee and never return, flee and never return...",_ The quote differing from the rest of the crew. He attempted to shake the general awake, and was successful in doing so. Too successful.

"NO! SAREN! PLEASE, NO!" The General screamed, as he suddenly bolted up, wide awake. His eyes widened, taking in the scene around him. "Still on the bridge, no monsters, no torture. No monsters. No monsters." The general repeated.

"What monsters?" Darius asked.

"Horrible, terrible, creatures. I thought they were quarian, but they were not..." The general trailed off, his eyes widening. He screamed, some memory of his experience surfacing.

"They invaded my mind, showed me horrible things. I saw palaven burning, soldiers killing each other, all the while the monsters tore us apart. We have provoked them, and they will not stop until we are all dead. What have I done? What have I done?" The general cried.

"What did you do?"

"We thought the ships were quarian, in violation of citadel law, but instead they belonged to the monsters! They wormed their way into my mind, and showed me horrible things!"

The general continued rambling like a madman. Darius sent a message to his superiors, asking for orders. They replied.

"Sir, I am afraid that you are not fit for duty. You are to be sent to the Citadel Mental Clinic, and will be examined in detail there."

"What? No! The monsters will come for me! Please, you must listen! We cannot fight them! We need to stop, tell them it was a misunderstanding, or else Palaven will burn!" General Arterius attempted to fight back, but the squad quickly overpowered him.

"You have doomed us all!" The general cried, before one of the soldiers in the squad knocked him out.

"Thank the spirits that that's over with. Whatever 'Monsters' he encountered will be no match for us when we bring the full might of the Turian Hierarchy down on them."

The squad left the ship, carrying an unconscious general with them.

* * *

"Are the modifications complete?" Jack Harper asked Dr. Miranda Lawson, head of XCOM's science division.

"Yes. We used a thin layer of cybernetics to prevent the genetic rewrite normally caused by meld, and the implantations have proceeded successfully. The skin dye was... more difficult, but we eventually managed to get the volunteers to be the right shade of blue." Lawson replied.

"Are you sure that they will pass as these 'Asari'?" Harper asked.

"Yes. Based on the data recovered from the captured Turian ship, we have managed to get the volunteers to be exact copies of Asari. We should even be able to replicate their mind melding abilities due to our psionics. The volunteers are ready for insertion into the alien capital, a large space station known as the Citadel. The insertion capsules are equipped with elerium cloaking devices, and seat one volunteer. We will be able to begin insertion immediately."

"Excellent. What else have you learned from these Turians?"

As a response, Miranda gave him a datapad. Harper made it a point to review it at a later date. "The Turians are a militaristic culture, and are the military arm of this 'Citadel Council.' Their culture is remarkably similar to ours, with each turian required to serve in the military. They use an organization system similar to that of the ancient romans. Their navy is composed of 20,000 warships, although not a single one of them is larger than one of our frigates. In fact, they consider any ship larger than a kilometer to be a dreadnought! Their technology is exclusively mass effect based, so we should have little to no trouble in eliminating their ground forces."

"What about the other races of the citadel council?"

"The Asari are the political arm, and seem to be the dominating race in this relationship. They resemble, to quote one of the scientists examining the data, 'Hot, Blue smurfettes with tentacle hair.' They seem to have large amounts of element zero inside their bodies, allowing them to manipulate mass effect fields. Secondly, the Salarians are the intelligence and scientific arm of the council. In wartime, they are primarily tasked with spying and developing new weapons. These races, along with the turians, form the Council. The council, however, has several client races. The Hanar are a race of jellyfish like creatures, who share their homeworld with the Drell, a race of reptilians that the Hanar rescued from extinction. The Elcor are a relatively minor race, not having much outside of their homeworld. The Volus are economic geniuses, but have a weak military, which caused them to enter a client relationship with the Turians. Finally, there are the Batarians. Everything I could possibly find repulsive about a race is present in their culture. They are similar to the old earth nation of North Korea, being a military state controlled through propaganda, with slavery being commonplace in their culture."

"Are there any unaffiliated races?"

"Yes. The Krogan are a race similar to the Mutons in terms of physical prowess. They have been genetically sterilized by a Salarian made bioweapon, which makes only 1 in 1000 births live longer than 1 year. This condition can easily be rectified with Meld based gene mods, and we should be able to then use the Krogan as a wedge to break the Council, due to their hatred of the Salarians, who created the modification that sterilized them, and the Turians who deployed it. The Krogan homeworld is currently under a council blockade, so we will not be able to proceed with immediate contact. The Quarians also have no love for the council, as the Council refused to aid them when they were driven off their homeworld by a race of AIs known as the Geth. They now live in a large fleet in space, in constant danger of extinction. Their immune system has been severely weakened due to their living in a sterile environment for several hundred years. This is easily remedied with Gene mods. Finally, the Geth are an isolationist race of sentient machines, that have not been seen in the galaxy proper since they drove the quarians from their homeworld. Use of Cyberdiscs to attempt contact is recommended."

"Good. Begin attempts to contact the Geth and Quarians. Keep me updated on any research projects you have completed."

"Understood."

Harper then turned and left the lab.

* * *

In a small building inside the Turian city of Cipritine, the Turian primarchs would convene. At the present, they were relviewing the recent data from General Arterius.

"How can we know that this information is genuine? For all we know, it was just a lucky shot by the suit-rats." Primarch Comneo said.

"We've all seen the recordings. Those ships annihilated Arterius' task force, and used some form of bio agent to destroy the resolve of the ship's crew. We need to act. A pre-emptive strike on their homeworld could avoid a second Rachni war." Countered Primarch Fedorian

"All in favor?" Primarch Cassius asked.

"Aye." All the primarchs chorused, with the exception of Comneo.

"Very well. We have a fleet of 15,000 ready to attack their homeworld, and 50 legions stand ready to invade. We cannot allow this challenge to Turian military supremacy to continue to exist. I will transmit the orders immediately."

Primarch Fedorian did just that. "ETA to relay 314 is in 30 hours. Once there, we will begin the assault. This meeting is over."

The primarch adjourned, leaving the room.

* * *

Dr. Lawson, Project Completion Reports

Project Auxiliary- The autopsy of several dead Turians revealed remarkable differences between their race and our own. Firstly, their race appears to have an avian ancestor, similar to the Aiva. However, it seems that the Turians eventually lost the ability to fly. However, this was not what was the most surprising about them. Their amino acid structure seems to be an almost polar opposite to our own, making every aspect of the Turians extremely toxic to us. As such, we have attempted to, and succeeded in, designing a gene mod to give us a fusion of Dextro and Levo amino acid chiralities, removing this massive advantage from the Turian hierarchy. Another unique adaptation these Turians have is their skin composition. Their skin seems to be adapted to block radiation much more efficiently than our own. This is similar to a civilian mod we managed to get out of the alien dimension, albeit much more effective. We have designed a gene mod to give this ability to humans. On a final note, the Turians possess no psionic ability.

Dextro-Levo Amino fusion mod created.

Radiation resistant skin mod created.

Project Shipwright- The research of the alien warship has revealed next to nothing of interest in all fields but one. This ship seems to rely exclusively on element zero, and has no trace of Elerium anywhere in its construction. As such, we have concluded that these turians have no Elerium based technology, and their advantage in mass effect tech is negated by our far superior elerium technology. For example, when comparing their kinetic barriers and our disruptor shields, their barriers are not only significantly weaker, but are also useless against our energy weapons. Their mass effect railguns are powerful, but their ship's size limitations, caused by their dependence on Element Zero, make it so that most of their ships' main guns lack the power to deal significant damage to our relay bio-steel armored craft. However, if mounted on a ship the size of the Apex, coupled with the alteration of its projectile from a solid shell to a superheated ferrofluid, we will have finally created a viable mass effect based weapon.

Magnetohydrodynamic Cannon blueprints created.

* * *

UFOpaedia Entry- Cataphract MEC- The MK-13 Cataphract is the latest in Mechanized Exoskeletal Cybersuit technology. In addition to mounting many of the augmentations of previous MECs, such as a flamethrower and a kinetic strike module, the Cataphract is the third MEC to actively utilize Extradimensional technology, as well as the first to utilize psionics. Cataphract users are trained to use their psionic abilities to perform long range artillery strikes, or for long range, area wide mind control. A Cataphract also is the first MEC design to utilize Disruptor shielding, personal teleporters, and cloaking devices. The primary armament of a Cataphract MEC is a L-9 Fusion lance.

* * *

**A/N- Chapter 1 is out! Enjoy. The Turians have made their move. Will the human fleets be too late to stop them? Find out next time, in Chapter 2- Contact: Shanxi. Vigilo Confido.**

**Also, what do you think of my casting Miranda in the role of Dr. Vahlen? **


	5. Chapter 2

**A/N: This is my THIRD re-write of this chapter, as the previous two were erased, one by auto-logout and the other by a power outage. Hopefully a freak accident does not prevent this chapter from being published.**

**Chapter 2- Contact: Shanxi**

**May 19th, 2157**

* * *

The Conference room of the Turian dreadnought, Invincible, was full of the various generals involved in the operation. General Oraka, commander in chief of the entire turian military, outlined the battle plan.

"This operation should be quick. Our orders are to subjugate this race, if possible. If not, we are to glass the planet. The main advantage these aliens have is some form of bio-agent that causes panic among all those exposed to it. We have installed decon units in all rooms to counter it. The plan is simple. General Corinthus will lead an initial assault fleet composed of 5000 warships into the system to engage any defenses that they have. Once their defenses have been engaged, I will lead a second force composed of the remainder of our ships into their system. Our frigates are carrying invasion troops, and all our cruisers and dreadnoughts carry dropships for the same purpose. We have 50 legions ready to commence planetary invasion. Once all spatial defenses are destroyed, General Corinthus will be left in charge of all operations in the system, with the rest of us exiting to return to our pre-invasion duties. This operation should not take longer than a day, as we have overwhelming force on our side. Any questions?" General Oraka asked.

"What if they manage to repel our fleet?" General Corinthus said.

"We are turian. We have never been defeated. Will you be the first to allow it?"

"No Sir."

"Good. If that will be all, you are all dismissed. Return to your ships, and prepare for invasion." The generals departed.

* * *

"Why didn't we destroy this relay when we had the chance?" Captain Samuel Verner asked, rhetorically.

"We needed to figure out which relays this one linked to, so we can destroy them first." Captain Ronald Taylor answered over the comm.

The Terran defense fleet, composed of eight frigates and a cruiser, clustered around the mass relay, cloaked. Information recovered from Turian databases on the ship captured in the Relay 314 incident revealed that their opponents' ships depended on the mass relay network for interstellar travel. Yet another weakness that the humans could exploit. Their ships were completely reliant on element zero technology, which limited their ships to frigate size or smaller, with anything larger than a kilometer being too Eezo costly to produce. Their weapons were projectile based, and their shields were likewise designed to stop projectiles. The humans' disruptor shields were equally effective against projectiles and energy, while the psions, plugged into the ship's 4 man amp, could generate a powerful telekinetic shield as a measure of last resort. Ronald Taylor's frigate, the TAS Hugo Gernsback, had an Ethereal Class 14-M Psi, two Class 12-K Psis, and a Class 13-C Psi stationed at the ship's axial psionic amp.

"Only four more hours until the fleet arrives, and we can take a break from guarding this damn relay." Captain Verner said.

"Yes. Then we can all-" Taylor started to say, before the sensors officer cut him off. "The relay's giving off some odd readings... oh god... they're here!" The officer shouted. Moments later, hundreds, then thousands, of ships began pouring through the relay. The blaring of alarms filled the CIC as Captain Taylor, acting commander of the defense force, took stock of the situation. His melding with the ship allowed him to 'see' through its sensors, the ship acting like an extension of his body. Five thousand ships had just exited the relay. They were turian, flying in a tight formation, some less than a kilometer apart from each other. The formation was nearly as deep as it was wide. In short, whoever designed it was an idiot. Ships flying in tight, deep formations, while looking good in movies, would only cause their ships to be unable to maneuver for fear of a collision, and cause their ships to get in each others' lines of fire. In short, every commander's ideal picture of an enemy.

Opening a fleetwide comm, Taylor gave his orders. "I want all K-Psis and Ethereals to place rifts in the middle of their formation. Have C-Psis begin panic and mind control strikes on their frigates. They consider those ships dreadnoughts, and likely have command elements on them. All ODPs, fire at will. All ships, charge fusion lances and decloak.

The terran forces obeyed.

* * *

'Where's the enemy?' Was the thought that was going through General Corinthus' head as his ship entered the system. His sensors were picking up ODPs in orbit of the planet, but they could hardly be the only defenses that these aliens had, could they? That question answered itself in the most unpleasant way possible.

"GENERAL! NINE ENEMY DREADNOUGHTS HAVE JUST DE-CLOAKED IN THE MIDDLE OF OUR FORMATION!" The ship's sensors officer bawled.

"All ships, open fire... on..." General Corinthus' voice trailed away, as he saw massive vortices of purple energy appearing inside his fleet's tight formations. The ships unfortunate to be caught in them were torn apart. Metal flew away from the swirling energies, being all that remained of hundreds of turian warships. Before he could even give the order to open fire, lances of white energy flew from both the alien ODPs and starships. Every ship they struck was destroyed in a burst of nuclear fire. Beams of energy flew from cannons in the side of the alien ships, slicing into the turian ships around them.

"All ships! Engage those spirits damned dreadnoughts!" General Corinthus screamed over a fleetwide comm.

There were already streaks of blue-white light from some turian frigates and cruisers, streaking towards the alien craft. The alien ships, however, maneuvered away, with an agility that belied their size. They cleared a path for themselves in the middle of the turian formation, those strange energy beams cutting Corinthus' ships apart. The enemy vortices had finally died down, leaving only debris where there had once been hundreds of ships. As Corinthus' ships attempted to match their enemy's maneuvering, several of them rammed into each other, the tightness of the turian formation working against them. Suddenly, Corinthus' mind felt something probing at it, before it was overwhelmed shortly after. He felt nothing but fear afterwards.

**TURIAN! YOUR KIND HAS COMMITTED AN ACT OF WAR AGAINST THE TERRAN ALLIANCE! MANY HAVE TRIED TO SUBJUGATE US BEFORE! NONE HAVE SUCCEEDED! YOUR KIND WILL JOIN THEM, IN WHATEVER HELL YOU BELIEVE IN! NOW FLEE, AND YOU MAY YET LIVE TO SEE US DESTROY YOUR WORLD!**

Corinthus screamed. He saw thousands of alien warships obliterating the Palaven defense forces, green fire raining down on a burning Cipritine. He saw alien abominations tearing turian soldiers apart, lances of energy cutting down them as they tried to flee. He saw his family obliterated by a gout of green energy, his son's charred face speaking to him, asking him, 'What have you done?'.

"General Corinthus. Has your fleet engaged the enemy?" General Oraka asked, over a comm channel.

"We must leave, and never return! We have woken a sleeping titan! Palaven will burn!" Corinthus shouted back, his shouts echoed by every turian on the bridge.

"Don't worry. Concentrate on eliminating the aliens, and we will give you medical treatment for the alien bio-agent upon your return to the citadel. Your decon unit must have been faulty." Oraka spoke.

"PLEASE! YOU MUST LISTEN TO ME! GO BACK TO PALAVEN! FLEE, OR THEY WILL SHATTER YOUR MIND LIKE THEY SHATTERED MINE!" Corinthus screamed.

"General, you must stay focused on the task at hand."

In response, Corinthus screamed, as the voices in his head intensified, overpowering him completely.

"Greetings, General Oraka. I represent humanity. Your kind has committed an act of war against our people. You are to leave our system immediately, and await our fleet's arrival at your homeworld." General Corinthus suddenly said, in a much calmer voice.

"Corinthus, you are removed from active duty due to exposure to an alien bio-agent. General Superbus will replace you." Oraka responded.

In response, 'Corinthus' laughed, coldly and cruelly. "Your kind has woken a sleeping giant. You are not the first to foolishly think that you could conquer the human race. Many have tried before you, and none have succeeded. We ascended to space on a mountain of alien corpses. Your kind will join them soon enough. Goodbye."

"General Corinthus, you are mentally ill. You have been relieved of command. The Citadel mental hospital will help you once this battle is over."

"NO! PLEASE, WHATEVER YOU DO, DON'T ANGER THE HUMANS! PALAVEN, BOSTRA, EPYRUS, BAETICUS, THEY WILL ALL BURN! WE MUST LEAVE NOW, OR EVERYTHING WE HAVE WILL BE DESTROYED!" Corinthus screamed. His screams fell on deaf ears, as Oraka had closed the channel.

* * *

The battle was going well for humanity, with the nine warships each easily racking up kill records in excess of a hundred ships. Ronald Taylor was a happy man. The turians may as well have been throwing rocks at his ships for all the difference their tiny mass accelerators did. His shields were holding strong, and his weapons were cutting into ship after turian ship. They were packed so tightly that it was difficult to miss with his disruptors.

His sensors picked up additional readings from the relay, more energy spikes signalling additional ships entering the system. He ordered his K-Psis to fire a rift into a nearby group of alien ships, still flying in tight, parade formation. They were torn apart. Then, the turian reinforcements entered the system. Ten thousand ships, ten thousand additional targets. However, they exited the relay in such a way that they could not be reached easily by the human warships, given that the original alien fleet formed a buffer zone of targets around his force. Signalling the ODPs, he told them to concentrate on the new arrivals, while his force continued to make short work of the aliens that had already been in the system. However, rather than engage his forces like the last alien force, these new ships made directly for the planet. Taylor swore. His ships were tied down, and his enemy knew it. They bought their comrades time with their lives, giving them time to close in with the planet.

* * *

General Oraka watched with horror as the alien warships tore through Corinthus' forces. He swore he even saw turian ships firing on each other, destroying each other. A lance of white light flashed past, slamming into the dreadnought off the Invincible's port bow. The mighty ship exploded in a burst of nuclear fire. Another lance slammed into one of the troop carrying frigates, obliterating it, and its cargo. Every gun in the turian fleet was returning fire, shells pouring out of the cannons as fast as they could be loaded in. Thousands of streaks of blue-white coated projectiles flew across the void in between the turian fleet and the alien stations. Many of the shots impacted, although the alien barriers were holding strong, even against the torrent of metal the turians threw at them. It was clear that that strategy was not going to work.

"Attention all frigates. Shift fire from the ODPs to the city on the ground. We're losing enough men as it is, and if their ground defenses are anything like their spacecraft, we will need to soften up the ground targets. Repeat. All frigates are ordered to shift fire to the alien city. We are to soften up their defenses on the ground. All other ships, continue to focus fire on alien stations." Looking at the sensors, he saw that the initial engagement force was reduced already to three thousand ships. They could not hold out for long. To think that only nine alien ships were making short work of the turian armada was disturbing. It was proof that these people needed to be destroyed. Activating the intercom, he gave the order to his gunner. "Fire a round into the city. This race is too dangerous to be allowed to exist."

The gunner complied, the shell exiting the barrel, beginning its plunge down towards the alien city.

* * *

Jack waited in line, suited up in hand-me-down XCOM armor, Fury armor, to be exact, waiting for the civilian evacuation ships to be readied for takeoff. Her parents were a few feet away, conversing with a spaceport official. Meanwhile, her boyfriend, Shaska, a muton, waited beside her. They were both 17, and were top of the class in combat records. Both of them had a bright future ahead of them, Jack due to her immensely powerful Psionic ability, due to her being a Class 15M Psi, one of the strongest to date. Shaska, meanwhile, was an extremely efficient close combatant, being augmented for melee ability. He was the descendant of several freed Muton Berserkers, who, once the rage inducing glands were removed, became the primary melee based soldiers of the Alliance.

"You think we'll get to kill an alien or two?" Jack asked her friend.

"Think? Our defense forces couldn't hold all of them off, on account of them sending nearly fifteen goddamn thousand ships into the system, and they're just rushing past our ODPs, not caring about losses. I know we'll be facing them before this goddamn evacuation ship finally is ready." Shaska replied.

Jack's reply was cut off by the sound of sirens blaring around the city, an announcement coming with them.

"ATTENTION ALL ALLIANCE CITIZENS. AN ORBITAL BOMBARDMENT OF THE COLONY HAS BEGUN. ALL CITIZENS ARE TO REPORT TO SHELTERS IMMEDIATELY. ATTENTION ALL ALLIANCE CITIZENS..."

Jack gasped, and began to run towards the nearest shelter. A loud screech in the air warned her of the incoming shells. She barely had time to create a barrier around herself before the shell struck. Her shield took the brunt of the blast, but she was sent back flying, barely stabilizing herself in time to avoid slamming into the wall behind her. The massive blast wave shattered buildings all around her, having hit directly on the evacuation launch pad. "SHASTA!" She screamed, before running to find her friend. She found him, dead, a girder through his chest. She screamed, tears pouring down her face. She saw her parents, or what remained of them, and wept harder. A loud hum in the air told her that the alien dropships were arriving. She screamed in pure rage, a psionic lance smashing into the first dropship she saw. She relished the screams of the aliens inside as they fell to their deaths, their ship shattering around them. A mind controlling wave hit the cockpit of a second dropship, as she made it turn, and collide with another one of the alien craft. A ship landed behind her, doors opening, aliens jumping out. They never got to take more than a few steps, before a rift reduced both them and their dropship to atoms. More alien ships were landing around the ruined launch pad, alien troops pouring out. Psionic artillery strikes reduced each and every one of the landing ships to shattered scrap, the aliens being utterly destroyed, their flesh and blood being spread across the ground. No more ships came for her, instead landing too far out of range. She was helpless, unable to do anything, as she heard the staccato of alien weapon fire ring out across the city. She collapsed to her knees, tears streaming down her face. For all her psionic power, Jacqueline Nought was only a 17 year old girl. A girl who had just lost everything.

* * *

Zaeed Massani fired off another burst from his plasma rifle, dropping yet another turian. A Cataphract MEC's fusion lance went off a second later, obliterating the turian squad.

"If you had fired a little goddamn sooner, I wouldn't have had to waste that shot!" Zaeed said to the MEC.

"My gun was still recharging from the last squad I obliterated." The MEC replied.

Zaeed grunted in response, before firing off another burst of plasma at another incoming turian squad. He dropped one turian, before killing a second one. And another. And another. He didn't even notice the tiny enemy bullets hitting his shields. They were insignificant, literally grains of sand being thrown at a granite wall. A loud whine indicated a disruptor cannon opening fire, its beams slicing into the alien horde. They were mown down in seconds.

"Vido Santiago! How nice of you to join us!" Zaeed said.

"Can it Zaeed, we're here to make those bastards pay. I had a sister here, and now she's dead. That damn kinetic bombardment reduced much of the city into rubble. She's buried under it." Vido said, before firing a psionic blast, causing a turian to collapse, like a puppet with its strings cut.

"How many casualties?" Zaeed asked.

"I don't know. Somewhere in the millions. Those bastards dropped a nuke on the residential district for fuck's sake! We can't save them, but we sure as hell can make those bastards pay!" Vido screamed, as he cut down another turian squad with his disruptor gun.

The sound of an alien dropship grew louder, as the turian ship closed in, ready to disgorge its cargo. It never got a chance. A flash of white light, and it was gone, the MEC standing by, its cannon steaming white hot hydrogen particles as a result of its recent firing.

"Not a problem anymore." The MEC said, simply.

Zaeed fired another burst at what had to be the hundredth alien squad to try and take the strategically worthless street he was in. The turian squad was cut down, like all its predecessors.

A loud shriek signalled the arrival of a human K9 team. Five chryssalids leaped onto an advancing force of turians, ripping into them, their victims' bodies reanimating, turning on their former comrades. Zaeed howled a war cry, vaulting over the barricade his squad was hunkered down behind, and opened fire. The few surviving turians were mown down, by plasma or by insectoid hellspawn.

"Thanks for the assistance. We've been holding this street for at least an hour. Now, we can make a push towards those bastards." Zaeed said.

"Good. They've established a foothold not too far from here, up the street over there." The K9 Leader said, pointing towards the street he meant.

"Allright. Lets show those goddamn xenos that humans are not to be messed with!" Vido said.

The team moved along the road, chryssalids charging ahead. One turian screamed as a hellspider jumped on it, splitting its body from crotch to sternum, before implanting its egg. The turian zombie rose up, charging the aliens that had once been its companions. The turians opened up on it, until the zombie finally fell. But, it did not fall due to injury. The body convulsed, once, twice, before it exploded, a newborn chryssalid jumping out, screeching, before charging one of the turians. It cut him apart.

As the squad reached the plaza where the turian dropships were landing, they were greeted with terrified aliens, firing wildly at the chryssalids as they leaped over their cover, and into their ranks.

"PLEASE! WE SURRENDER! PLEASE CALL THESE MONSTERS OFF!" One of them screamed, Zaeed understanding through his translator. At once, every chryssalid stopped moving, and all the weapons in the plaza ceased firing. The Turians dropped their weapons, before the K9 officer began psionically communicating with them. They were rounded up into one big group, chryssalids eyeing them hungrily. Then, an Avenger heavy transport landed, and the turians boarded, escorted by their K9 guards.

* * *

The frigate shuddered, as an alien fighter flew by, raking it with green fire. Saren Arterius waited inside the turian dropship, nervously awaiting his ship's release. He was one of the few soldiers from his brother's ship that managed to regain his sanity. Now, he was going to make each and every one of the aliens pay for what they did to his brother. The dropship soared out of the frigate's hangar. Saren watched in horror as the frigate exploded several seconds later, an alien fighter using one of those spirits-damned energy weapons to destroy the once proud ship. The transport landed, and Saren's squad rushed out. They entered a ruined building, Saren's rifle sweeping the room. He heard a soft noise, and went to investigate. He opened a door, and saw a small room, a sobbing alien child sitting on the bed inside, clutching a stuffed animal. Saren was overwhelmed with pity, and came in. "Don't worry, little one. I won't harm you." Saren said, softly. The child turned around. Its eyes filled with pure malice upon seeing Saren. Its eyes glowed with purple energy, before a kinetic blast hurled Saren out of the room, shattering the walls. The child slowly exited. The rest of Saren's squad surrounded it. Then, the child screamed. Pure sound rushed over Saren. He watched his squadmates collapse, blood pouring out of various openings in their faces, their insides literally vibrated apart. The two survivors opened fire, while a purple dome of energy formed around the alien, deflecting all incoming bullets. It spat something into the face of one of the turians, who fell down, screaming, as his head melted. The child turned to the other turian, who was cursing as his weapon overheated. The child leaped forward at an astounding speed, delivering a powerful blow to the turian's head, snapping the spine. The turian fell, dead, blue blood pouring from the hole in its face. Then, the child turned to Saren, who looked up at it in horror. Its eyes glowed purple, and Saren felt a force enter his mind. He screamed, as the pure rage of the entity inside him tore his mind apart.

**MY NAME IS KAI LENG! YOUR KIND WILL ALL DIE, JUST LIKE YOU SLAUGHTERED MY FAMILY!**

The entity in his mind finished shouting, before the alien, Kai Leng, grabbed Saren's knife, jabbed it into Saren's eye, and twisted. Saren shouted as agony coursed through both his mind and body. He could not move, even as the alien slowly drew out the knife, and stabbed him in his other eye. Saren was blind, but the torture continued. Finally, the child stopped, and Saren heard it speak in perfect turian. "This is what I will do to every turian in existence! Your kind's death begins today!" The child said, before it drove the knife into Saren's neck, killing him.

* * *

General Oraka watched in horror as reports poured in. More than once, he had to watch an alien squad gun down an entire dropship full of turian soldiers. The alien ODPs continued to have their way with his navy, which had already lost a third of its ships. This was turning into the greatest disaster in Turian military history. In the hours that passed since the battle started, he was horrified by the sheer losses such an undersized defensive force could inflict. The advance guard had been all but obliterated, its remaining ships destroying each other, rather than firing on the enemy.

"General! I'm picking up a massive radiation spike!" His sensors officer said.

"What is it? Yet another weapon to tear our fleet apart?" Oraka replied.

The question answered itself, as a massive dimensional rift opened up, hundreds of alien ships pouring through. Oraka gasped at the size of some of them. Then, a voice screamed in his head.

**ATTENTION ALL TURIAN VESSELS IN THE SYSTEM! YOU HAVE COMMITTED AN ACT OF WAR, AND ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE DEATHS OF MILLIONS. YOUR WORLDS WILL FALL TO US, YOUR CITIES WILL BURN, AND YOUR KIND WILL ALL DIE. YOU HAVE MADE AN ENEMY OF THE TERRAN ALLIANCE. I HOPE THAT YOUR KIND ENJOYS THE LAST DAYS OF ITS EXISTENCE!**

The voice then showed him exactly what it meant, vivid images flying through his head, images of Palaven, of his home colony, of his family, all being destroyed by alien fleets.

**SURRENDER NOW, AND YOUR LIVES WILL BE SPARED.**

"No! I am a turian! I never surrender!" Oraka screamed.

**THEN YOU WILL DIE.**

The voice stopped. Then, the terran ships opened fire. Hundreds of turian warships were destroyed in moments.

"All ships. Retreat." Oraka said, simply, as the aliens tore apart the military might of the turian armada.

"Gunner. Fire another shell at their city. They may kill us, but we will strike one final blow before they do." Oraka ordered. The reply came in the form of a shell, exiting the ship's main cannon.

Then, the turian dreadnought turned tail, and fled the alien world, its fellow starships being obliterated by the hundreds as they headed for the relay. Few ships made it. Oraka's was one of them.

* * *

Zaeed cheered as the last of the fleeing turian ships were cut down, either by ground mounted fusion lances and psi-artillery, or by the human fleet, waiting in orbit. Then, the mood vanished, as the screech of an alien shell sounded across the city. It slammed into the ground, less than a kilometer away from Zaeed and his squad. He and his team put up a psionic barrier, just as the blast reached him. The barrier failed to block the entire blast. Zaeed was thrown back, a piece of shrapnel slamming into his helmet, his disruptor shields already overwhelmed. It cut into his face, shattering his helmet. It lodged in one of his eyes, blinding it, searing pain shooting throughout his head. Then, he blacked out as his head hit a wall.

* * *

"Attention all Terran citizens. Less than 30 minutes ago, an alien invasion fleet was repelled from the Shanxi system. However, before doing so, one of their ships fired several heavy tungsten slugs into the capital city of Shanxi. An estimated 564 million people are dead due to this bombardment. We cannot stand for this. We will take the fight to the enemy, and we will avenge the tragedy that was Shanxi. We will show the turians what the Terran alliance can do! They think that they have struck a heavy blow at Shanxi, but all they have done is earn our full, undivided attention. They have pissed us off, and we will show them what happens when we are angry! Vigilo Confido. My heart goes out to the families of all who died on Shanxi. Goodbye, and good luck." The President cut the camera, before turning to Jack Harper.

"Are the infiltrators in position?" She asked.

"Yes. They have already begun to send me intelligence on the council, and the political situation on the citadel." Harper answered.

"Good. Begin the second phase of the plan. The president said, before leaving the room.

* * *

Kelly Chambers watched the denizens of the citadel go about their usual business. She had been inserted onto the station only a day before, and she already hated it. The damn citizens were too cheerful. They had never known the horrors of war. Her implanted head tentacles itched, and she reached up to scratch them. She hated the implants. Suddenly, a message came up on her omni-tool. Looking at it, her eyes widened. She began to walk, slowly, towards the location where her equipment cache was hidden. More than 550 million people were dead, and it was her job to avenge them. Reaching the cache, she checked if anyone was watching. There wasn't. She pulled out several plasma charges, and a plasma sniper rifle. She pulled on her combat suit, a set of Nightmare stealth armor. She then mounted her rifle on her back, and engaged her mimetic skin. Invisible, she leaped up into the air, heading for the docks. A turian dreadnought was there, and she was there to remove it. She patted the satchel of plasma charges affectionately. They would do the job quite nicely.

* * *

UFOpaedia entry: Fury Armor- The last of a dedicated line of 'Psi-Armor" before the armor types were combined in the Colossus armor suit, the Fury armor was the most powerful psionic armor in the XCOM arsenal. Although rendered obsolete by the improved amp in the Colossus, the Fury is still a force to be reckoned with when in the right hands.

Avenger Heavy Transport- Originally envisioned as a prototype warship during the Ethereal war, the Avenger was never mass produced in that form. During the third alien war, avenger blueprints were brought out again, and were re-purposed as heavy dropships. An avenger is easily capable of carrying a hundred soldiers, although its armament and maneuverability leave much to be desired. For those reasons, it is typically used to drop in troops behind the front lines, reinforcing soldiers already in battle.

Nightmare Armor- A dedicated stealth armor set, the Nightmare armor is capable of maintaining an elerium cloak for up to an hour before needing to recharge. Nightmare armor also utilizes jump jets, sonic dampeners, a powerful psionic amp, and motion accelerators for effective stealth and melee ability. Nightmare armor is typically utilized by spies and intelligence operatives.

* * *

**A/N- Finally, I have finished this chapter without something wiping my progress! I feel so happy right now! Not only have I finished this chapter, but it is also the longest one I have ever written, weighing in at 5k words! Enjoy all of you. As for Special Task, expect an update tomorrow. Due to this chapter being wiped for the second time today, I have had to delay the upcoming chapter until tomorrow, just to prove that I can finish this chapter. **

**Vigilo Confido.**


	6. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3- Retribution**

**May 21st, 2157**

* * *

The human fleet was assembled. Admiral Hackett was giving orders over a fleetwide comm. In less than 5 minutes, the human fleet would enter the dimensional gate, and engage the enemy.

"Am I clear? We are to completely remove any and all military opposition, however, civilian targets are off limits. We are not here to wage genocide. We are here to completely and utterly eliminate an enemy's ability to make war. " Hackett finished.

"Yes Sir." Thousands of captains replied.

The dimensional gate chose that moment to activate, sending over three thousand human ships to the turian colonies, with two thousand warships making the jump to Palaven.

As soon as they entered the system, the human ships opened fire. The enemy force was decimated, several hundred ships vanishing in bursts of nuclear fire before they even knew they were under attack.

Fighters launched en masse from the human ships, their own fusion lances raking the enemy formation, clearing a path for them as they flew towards the enemy lunar emplacements. Once they arrived, fusion lances began stabbing down at the hundreds of military facilities, leaving glowing craters in their place. The turian ships were in full retreat, flying in every direction, dueling mind controlled wingmates. The human offensive had begun.

* * *

Samara followed her quarry, the strange asari seemingly unaware of her pursuit. To the ordinary eye, she seemed to just be yet another important Asari, walking slowly towards her destination. Samara knew better. The asari moved with a gait of a professional killer, stalking its prey.

"Hey girl, you wanna come over to my place? Get to... know me better?" A turian called out straight at the strange Asari. To an ordinary observer, the Asari didn't seem to even notice. Her head barely turned towards the turian, not even breaking stride. Only Samara saw her eyes briefly glow a strange purple. The turian suddenly collapsed, like a puppet with its strings cut. Samara's eyes widened. This was only an ability possessed by Ardat-Yakshi who had reached their matriarch stage. That meant that there was an Ardat Yakshi on the citadel, and that there had been for a long time. She watched as the Ardat Yakshi made a turn into an alley, out of sight. Samara leaped down, ready to confront the menace.

* * *

Orianna Lawson turned into an alleyway, out of sight of the general public. She had spent the past two days planting plasma charges in several turian vessels, the cloaked bombs ready to go off as soon as she got the signal. She just had. Phase three of the infiltration plan had begun. Samantha Traynor had reported being in position, her job being to assassinate the Turian councilor, as well as any other turian government officials in her line of fire. The rest of the infiltrators had been busy sabotaging the entire turian citadel defense fleet. At the push of a button, the entire fleet would go up in flames. Now, it just needed to be timed right.

Her musings were interrupted by a series of quiet footsteps behind her. She turned, and saw an asari wearing bright red scale armor.

"And you are?" Orianna asked.

"I am Samara. A member of the asari justicar order. I know what you are, Ardat-Yakshi." The asari, Samara, said.

"Ardat-Yakshi? You mean those sex vampires?" Orianna started to laugh. "What I am is much, much worse. You are lucky that my race has no quarrel with the Asari."

"I saw what you did to that turian. He was likely drunk, and didn't know what he was saying. Did he deserve what you did to him?"

"He's not dead. He's just going to be in a coma for a few weeks. As for why, his race has killed hundreds of millions of us in an unprovoked attack on one of our colonies two days ago. Now, we will have our revenge."

"You are obviously an asari, and an Ardat-Yakshi at that. I commend your cunning at reaching the matriarch stage, but you must die for the people you murdered." Samara said, glowing blue with biotics.

"That's about as much as I would expect from a race as primitive as yourself. You do not know about Meld, or Psionics, or Elerium. You stumble around space, in a state of perpetual technological stagnation, relying exclusively on ancient alien ruins. Do you know why they are ruins? Because their technology was flawed, and they failed to stop whatever destroyed them. Then, here you are, building a clone of their society, with your own kind adding nothing new. Our race, meanwhile, has ascended to space on a mountain of alien corpses. We didn't even know the protheans existed until after we had repelled the second alien invasion of our homeworld! Your kind are doomed to fail, just as the protheans failed, while we will ascend on the ruins of your society." Orianna said, a crackling purple aura forming around her.

"Enough!" Samara screamed, firing a bolt of biotic energy at her. It impacted a purple barrier, dissipating into nothingness. Orianna psionically attacked her enemy's exposed mind, tearing through the weak protection, and assuming direct control.

* * *

Samara suddenly felt her mind being probed, before the asari in front of her overwhelmed her mental defenses, as if they did not exist. She felt her body seize up, before she lost control. She felt her body moving on its own, the strange asari in front of her assuming direct control of her body. Then, the visions began. Images of cities burning, consumed by green fire from the sky. She saw alien vessels being destroyed by undersized, under-armed fighters. She saw a handful of soldiers wearing advanced armor tearing through strange alien forces in an alien starship. She watched from a departing craft's perspective, as a massive alien dreadnought flew up, and exploded, flaming debris raining down. She watched as alien fought alien underwater, and as massive tidal waves destroyed once proud cities. She saw image after image of a suffering race, overcoming every obstacle in their path, ascending to become a galactic civilization.

Samara snapped out of the vision. She was lying on the ground, panting, in full control of her body once more. The disguised Asari stood behind her, holding some kind of detonator. It spoke.

"The turians have become the latest in a series of enemies to draw our anger. Now, witness our retribution." The asari pressed down on the detonator.

* * *

Samantha Traynor held the turian councilor in her scope, ready to fire. Her augmented hearing allowed her to hear every word that the councilors were saying.

"What do you mean, you just lost three quarters of your fleet?" The asari, Tevos, asked.

"I mean exactly that. I sent fifteen thousand warships through a relay to begin a policing action. Only five came back, their crew in various stages of mental disrepair." Sparatus, the turian councilor, replied.

"What form of 'policing action' are you implying, councilor?" The Salarian, Verlin, said.

"We encountered a hostile race activating a mass relay. They fired on us without provocation. We went to secure their homeworld in order to prevent a second rachni war." Sparatus said.

"And now, thanks to your turian unwillingness to negotiate, we now have a war on... our... hands..." Tevos' voice trailed off as an urgent message appeared on her omni-tool.

"Sparatus. You're not going to like this. We've just lost contact with Palaven, and a significant amount of turian colonies, with more dropping off the map by the second. Is it them?" Tevos asked.

"Spirits... It is." Sparatus said, in the most defeated tone of voice Traynor had ever heard. Then, the citadel shook, as hundreds of turian warships began to explode in bursts of green plasma. That was Traynor's cue. She took aim, and fired. It was a perfect hit.

* * *

Councilor Tevos gasped in shock, as the hundreds of turian warships defending the citadel exploded in bursts of green light. That shock then turned to horror, as a streak of green light slammed into the side of Sparatus' head. The turian councilor collapsed, silently, dead before he hit the floor. Tevos heard footsteps, and turned to see an asari, wearing a strange set of combat armor, holding a strange weapon in her hand.

"Shanxi is avenged." It said, simply, before disappearing into thin air.

* * *

BREAKING NEWS!

"Today on CNN we discuss the assassination of the turian councilor by an unknown asari, as well as attempt to find the cause of the tragedy that destroyed the entire turian citadel defense fleet. Here with us is Kasi'Sumi, an asari who's bondmate was onboard the Fearless, a turian cruiser destroyed in the recent tradgedy. How are you today Kasi? Who do you think was responsible for this terrible crime? My sources indicate that it is a new asari crime gang that hates turians. What about you?" The CNN anchor said to the crying asari next to her.

The sobbing asari composed herself, before beginning to speak.

"I heard differently. I heard that they are a race that the turians wronged, who genetically engineered themselves to look like asari!" She said.

"Really? What makes you think that?"

Ignoring the question, Kasi continued.

"They have already breached our defenses...

* * *

Orianna Lawson gunned down a squad of C-Sec turians.

* * *

"You have all seen what they have done to the turians..."

* * *

Kelly Chambers primed a blaster grenade, the green orb homing in on a turian troop transport.

* * *

"...And worst of all, they could be any one of us! One of them could be in this very room! They could be you! They could be me! They could even be-" Kasi's rambling was cut off by an irritated news anchor, who said. "Yes, yes. I understand that this tragedy could have affected your mental state bu-" The news anchor never finished the sentence. She fell down, her eyes rolling back into her skull.

"They could even be right behind you." Kasumi Goto finished, the purple glow of psionics dying around her. Billions of people, on hundreds of worlds, watched the broadcast with terrified eyes.

* * *

Chaos reigned supreme on the citadel, the period later termed the 'Asari Witch Hunt' by humans. Hundreds of asari were injured by turian and salarian rioters, with three asari being killed, trampled by angry mobs. None of the asari injured, however, were human infiltrators. Protests against the turian instigation of the war were heard, with asari, salarians, and even a few turians, being seen in front of the turian embassy, demanding an immediate end to hostilities. Flaming debris continued to rain down on the station, them being all that remained of the once proud turian citadel defense fleet. Samara watched it all with wide eyes, feeling true fear for the first time in centuries. 'Just what had the turians done? Will the citadel ever recover from their mistake?' She thought, as shouts from rioting mobs and protesters rang out across the citadel.

* * *

**Meanwhile, in the Trebia system**

The Turian fleets were in disarray. One second, space around Palaven was clear, the next, several thousand warships appeared behind turian defensive lines, and began cutting through all turian military installations with ease. Despite all the efforts of the turian military, the turian fleets were slowly but surely being annihilated. The aliens had already hit the military installations on Menae, Palaven's moon. The moon was covered in glowing hot craters, from the enemies' energy weapons constantly pounding the moon's surface. The turian fleet's counterattack had ended in failure, with almost half of the ships involved being destroyed. The Turian hierarchy, once the owner of the largest military fleet in the galaxy, had been brought to its knees. Its ships were now debris, and its soldiers were next.

* * *

Garrus Vakarian huddled in the basement of his house, his sister, Solana, next to him. Their mother, suffering from Corpalis syndrome, was next to them.

"Do you think that the aliens will stop?" Solana asked.

"We have the best military in the galaxy. If anyone can stop them, we can." Garrus replied, firm conviction in his voice.

The screeches of an orbital bombardment sounded, as shells sped towards their targets. One impacted with a strangely soft THUD, outside the Vakarian household. Then, there were the sounds of alien voices, and alien weapons fire. Then, the door exploded in a burst of green fire as an alien weapon destroyed it. Solana screamed, Garrus covered her mouth, but the damage was done. Alien voices sounded out, and the sound of heavy footsteps came as the invaders sprinted down into the basement.

It was then that Garrus first laid eyes on one of them. Its body was shaped like that of an asari, albeit without the strange chest protrusions. It wore a set of combat armor, and carried a long rifle that the young turian identified as a sniper rifle on its back. In its hands, it clutched a small sidearm. Solana's eyes were wide with fear. Garrus then stood up, putting his body in between the alien and his sister. "If you want to kill her, you will have to go through me." Garrus snarled.

"We're XCOM. We don't harm civilians. Stay here, and you will not be harmed." The XCOM said, in perfect turian.

"What about my father? He's on the citadel, with C-Sec! What will you do to him?" Garrus asked.

"If he fires on us, we will respond in kind. If he keeps his head down, we will ignore him." The XCOM replied.

"Why are you doing this? Can't you see that this is wrong?" Solana cried.

"You turians did the same thing to one of our worlds. You invaded Shanxi without provocation, and killed millions in an orbital bombardment. We are retaliating." The alien said.

"If the hierarchy attacked, there must have been a good reason!" Garrus said.

"If there was one, we do not know of it. Now stay here, and you will not be harmed." The XCOM said, an explosion a few blocks away punctuating its words. It said something in its own language, speaking into a communicator. It then left, heading up the stairs.

* * *

Primarch Fedorian watched as an alien dreadnought laid waste to the once proud city of Cipritine. Hundreds of turians were dying by the minute, each one putting up a valiant stand, but dying nonetheless. 'What sort of sleeping titan have I awoken?' Fedorian thought, as he watched yet another military installation be obliterated. He brought his sidearm to his head, and pulled the trigger. His last thought was 'What have I done?'

* * *

General Adrien Victus watched as yet another column of trireme tanks were destroyed by an alien fighter squadron. The strange circular ships fired blasts of green energy, searing through the hulls of the armored vehicles, the tanks exploding into balls of fire.

"Tell the primarch we can't hold out! We need air support!" Victus screamed, as bursts of green plasma tore into the soldiers around him. He fired back, his sidearm sending several shots at an enemy. If he hit, he did not hurt them. Those damn shields they had could take a hit from a tank and come out intact, and his tiny pistol could barely scratch them.

"The Primarch is dead, they found his body a few minutes ago! The rest of them died when that damn dreadnought hit the capitol! Who's next in the line of succession?" A turian commander said.

Victus hunkered down behind the barricade, pulling up a live status of the line of succession. What he saw, stopped him cold. Every single primarch, as well as as almost every general, was either dead, or listed as MIA. The aliens had struck the turian chain of command hard, with their fighters destroying most of the battlefield command centers in the early stages of the battle. This left Victus as the highest ranking officer in the turian military. He was the new primarch.

"Get me a comm link, planetwide. Open a channel to the alien forces. As the new primarch, I am ordering the surrender of the turian hierarchy." Victus said, softly, to the officer near him. The officer complied, opening the comms channels to all remaining turian forces.

"Attention all turian forces still alive. As the new primarch of the turian people, I, Adrien Victus, have authorized the surrender of all turian soldiers. Effective immediately." Primarch Victus said.

The sound of weapons fire ceased almost immediately. An unsettling silence settled over the battlefield that had once been the turian capital. Thick columns of smoke hung above ruined military installations. Then, the communications device crackled to life, carrying with it a reply for the turians.

"Your surrender has been accepted. We will send a shuttle to meet you." The human on the other end said.

"If you wish to negotiate, you must go to the citadel, and meet with our councilor. Sparatus is our voice in galactic politics." Victus said. The comm channel was silent for a minute.

"I'm sorry, but we cannot do that. One of our infiltrators reported a mission complete two hours ago. Sparatus is dead." The human said. Victus nearly fainted from the shock. He struggled to compose himself as he replied.

"V-very well. Send the shuttle." Victus said.

The channel went dead, and a shuttle separated from the dreadnought above the city. It closed in, fast, before coming to a stop. Victus recognized it as one of the accursed dropships that had pounded his men relentlessly over the past few hours. It hovered overhead, before slowly descending. It settled down, and a door on the side opened. Several humans stepped out. One was not wearing a full suit of combat armor.

"Shall the negotiations begin?" The human asked.

"Negotiations? We have nothing to negotiate with." Victus said.

"I know that. However, there are people up the chain of command who want me to negotiate with you. Some of those people want your kind to pay heavy reparations to us for your actions at Shanxi." The human said.

"Reparations? Just repairing all this damage would likely bankrupt us!" Victus said.

"Yes. That is why I will not attempt to force punitive reparations out of you. What we have done here is enough. We have nearly annihilated your race's military! To force payments on top of that is a gross injustice in my book." The human said. "What I want to know, is why did general Arterius open fire on our ships, rather than attempt peaceful contact? The answer determines our treatment of your people."

"From what I know, Arterius was ordered to patrol the Relay 314 system, based on evidence that the Quarians would be illegally activating a mass relay in said system. When he encountered your ships, he must have thought that they were Quarian, and moved to engage. Then, the primarchs thought that they were at the verge of a second Rachni war and sent a force that, by all rights, should have been overkill for the job. Instead, they were destroyed, by you, and the rest is history." Victus said.

"Ah. Then all these lives were lost over a misunderstanding?" The human asked.

"As far as I know, yes."

The human then said something in its own language, into a communicator. The reply was heard soon after.

"The President has decided to avoid punitive measures on your race. However, due to your aggressive actions against our own, you will become a client race of humanity, until such time that you are deemed fit to fully join our alliance."

"A client race? But we are already affiliated with the council!"

"Trust me, kid. Based on what we know about this council, we're doing you a favor. We look after our own, while the council ditches you at the earliest opportunity, and denies ever being involved with you." The human said.

"What of our current client race, the Volus?"

"They can chose either independence or membership with our alliance. So long as they do not attack us, we will leave them alone."

"Very well. It seems that I have no choice but to accept. The Turians agree to your terms." Victus sighed, before walking away, head hung low in defeat.

* * *

**A/N- Finally, I have finished this chapter. However, due to me needing to prepare for a trip tomorrow, I will not be able to publish anything else today or tomorrow. Sorry to all special task fans. There IS an update in the works, although I was not satisfied with how the version I intended to release today turned out, so back to the drawing board.**


	7. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4- Negotiations**

**May 22nd, Council Chambers**

* * *

Councilor Tevos looked out of the council chamber window at the once peaceful presidium. Where there had once been clean white architecture and beautiful lakes, now there was a field of debris from destroyed warships, and smoke was rising from the most recent area to be hit by rioting mobs. Just inches from where her hand gripped the railing, the blood of Councilor Sparatus still lay, dry and blue.

There was the sound of footsteps behind her.

"Hello. We haven't had the chance to properly meet, Councilor." Came a voice that Tevos had only heard once before.

"Are you here to kill me too?" Tevos asked.

"If that was my mission, you would have died alongside that turian. I never miss my targets." The assassin replied.

"Why? Why did you do it?"

"I had my orders. The fact that he was the leader of a race that killed millions of us played a part as well."

"Sparatus never conducted mass killings of our people!"

The assassin laughed. "Have you not watched CNN lately? You know what I really am."

"Sensationalist junk, all of it."

"A shame you believe that. Kasumi really put her heart into that interview."

"Why are you here?" Tevos said.

"I'm here to deliver a message. The turian hierarchy has surrendered. The Terran alliance is ready to begin negotiations."

"Negotiations? You have removed a keystone of a society that has existed for thousands of years! What do we have left to negotiate with?"

"Contrary to what you may believe, the Terran alliance only wants peace. We attacked the turians in retaliation for their unprovoked attack on Shanxi."

"And in response you exterminated them?"

"No! We are not monsters! We are not like the Overlord! The turians now are a client race of the Terran Alliance, and in time will earn their place as full citizens."

"Why show mercy like that? It would have been more expedient to just kill them."

"If we were to kill them all, then we would be worse than they were. This war began over a misunderstanding, and had we known sooner, we would have taken steps to avoid this terrible loss of life. Even if the turians had been violent warmongers, the worst we would have done was quarantine their homeworld. We are not senseless killers!"

"You mentioned an 'Overlord' earlier. Is he the leader of your people?"

In response, the assassin gasped. "NO! Certainly not! The overlord was a leader of an alien race that attacked us 142 years ago. They killed a third of our population in relentless attacks on our population centers. Rather than explaining it, though, it would be easier to just show you." The assassin decloaked, shimmering into existence beside the asari councilor. Its eyes glowed purple, and Tevos felt a presence touch her mind. It was similar to an asari mind meld, but it was one way only. Tevos felt her vision swim, before it was replaced with a scene of a terrible battle.

A strange alien vessel pounded an alien city with green fire, the primitive fighter craft rising to fight it being wiped out in seconds. The scene changed to a view of the streets, as several alien soldiers used chemically propelled bullets to fight huge purple bugs, which were eviscerating civilians with horrifying efficiency. A loud screech split the air, and one of the soldiers turned, only for another one of the terrible insects to pounce on him. His comrades opened fire, killing the bug, but not before their fellow soldier died in one of the most gruesome ways possible. Then, the dead body began to twitch, and rose up, moaning. The soldiers opened fire again, but they couldn't stop another one of them from being bludgeoned to death by its reanimated comrade. Then, the zombie fell down, its limbs flailing, before another alien bug burst out of its husk. The scene switched to an alien underground structure, six soldiers equipped with considerably more advanced weapons and armor, moving through it. They saw more of their kind, trapped in strange tanks, or cut open on surgical tables. Suddenly, there was a loud roar, and green fire and crimson lasers filled the air. The final scene was that of a massive alien ship, hovering over water. A small craft fled from it, as debris tumbled off the behemoth. Then, the ship began to move up, fast, slowly imploding as it did so, before exploding in a massive shower of debris.

The vision cut off, and Tevos found herself thrust back into the real world. The assassin stood next to her, her face unreadable.

"That ship at the end... it was... by the goddess..." Tevos stammered.

"I know. It was the flagship of the alien invasion fleet. The Overlord was onboard when it was destroyed. The races under its psionic compulsion were freed at the moment the ship exploded above earth."

"Its not that... nevermind. I accept your offer to begin negotiations." Tevos said.

"Very well." The assassin lifted a communication device to her lips and spoke: "Come in TAS Apex. Negotiation proposal has been accepted." She said.

Suddenly, Tevos saw a shimmer in the space between the citadel arms. A huge ship materialized where there was none seconds before, at least four times the size of the Destiny Ascension. Tevos' omni tool pinged, and she answered the message. It was a panicked call, containing four words. 'What do we do?'.

Tevos answered it, telling the remaining citadel defense force not to fire. Then, several aliens materialized in front of her. One was almost like an asari, except with light pinkish skin and a more 'male' look to it. The second was huge, with reddish skin, covered in muscles. The third was an insectoid creature that reminded Tevos of the Rachni. Next was a feathered creature, with deep blue plumage, staring in wonder at everything surrounding it. Tevos froze at the sight of the final creature. It was tall and thin, wearing red robes and a silver mask. Four thin arms protruded from its sides.

"STAY AWAY!" Tevos shouted at it, fear evident in her voice. It was one of the creatures that inhabited that ship, one of the race that killed her bondmate. She took a step back, her memory flashing back to her imprisonment onboard that nightmare of a starship, back in her maiden years.

The aliens all looked at her with curiosity. The pinkish one took a step forward. "On behalf of the Terran Alliance, we come to negotiate peace." It said.

"No! I don't negotiate peace with any race affiliated with those MONSTERS!" Tevos screamed, pointing at the four armed creature.

"What? The Ethereals have been citizens of the alliance for nearly a century and a half. They only attacked us under the psionic influence of their overlord." The ink creature replied.

"NO! Those monsters... they killed him! They killed Tarak in cold blood on an operating table! They imprisoned me on that horrible ship, I... STAY AWAY!" She said, as the monster took a step towards her, glowing with purple energy.

"Sher! Enough! Traynor, do you know why the asari is acting like this?" The pink creature said.

"I don't know! However, she seems to be acting like the survivors of the overlord's internment camps during the war. She may have personal experience with the Ethereals, back when they were under the overlord's sway."

"Councilor, please explain. Where did you encounter this ship and when? Were there any other ships with it?" The pink creature said in a soothing tone, its eyes glowing purple. Tevos felt herself slowly calming, her heart rate slowing to normal.

"Back in my maiden years, nearly 800 years ago, I was part of a salvage group in the Terminus systems. We found an alien ship, which did not match any known profiles. It was derelict, and the leader of the group, a batarian named Tarak, who was also my bondmate, thought that it was Prothean. We went in to investigate, only to find out that it was not derelict at all! When we were deep inside the ship, we came to a massive central chamber, full of tens of thousands of strange stasis tanks. Each one carried an unknown race! Then, alien drones began pouring out! They came from everywhere! They grabbed Tarak, and Serrus, and Molian! Then, they came for me."

"What did these drones look like?"

"They had a single central core, surrounded by four small claws. They shot bolts of energy that stunned anyone they hit!"

"Ah. Those. We humans have re-purposed them for use in construction."

"Then, they locked us in these cells, feeding us disgusting nutrient paste for months. Every day, they would take us out, study us! They forced their way into my mind, reading through my every memory, torturing me when I resisted. Then, after two, maybe three months of nonstop pain, they took Serrus out of the cell, and he never came back. The next day, it was Molian. Then, they came for Tarak. When they took him, I pounded at the energy shield at the cell door for hours, nonstop, until it broke. I ran out, trying to find Tarak. I found him on a dissection table, dead, his body slowly being dissolved by nanites. One of the aliens watching turned towards me, and I... I don't remember anything else! The next thing I know, I woke up on our ship, in deep space, with a ship approaching, drawn by a distress beacon. I spent years learning how to repress my memories, how to forget what they did to my love. The only thing I have left to remember him is my daughter, and she left for Omega a few centuries ago..." Tevos trailed off, lost in thought and bad memories.

"Sher... When were your kind planning on telling us this?"

"We planned to, when we... when we... when we remembered. Our memories had been altered by the Overlord, so that when he died, we may assist the race who killed him in overcoming the... I don't remember. My memories are gone, only revealed when certain conditions are met! All that I know, is that the Library is located in this location." The four armed creature said, before a pulse of purple energy expanded from its body. The pinkish creature and the insect clearly understood everything, the red creature did not indicate anything, and the avian alien simply looked confused.

"What just happened?" Tevos asked.

"Sher has just shared mental information with us. Namely, an exact location on the galaxy map. But enough of this trip down memory lane. We are here to negotiate, not take part in some ancient Ethereal prophecy. I am Alexei Rozhenko, ambassador of the human race. The alien you fear so much is Shet'Har'Arcturus, a representative of the Ethereals. They are a race of powerful, long lived psions, who until recently were under absolute control of the Overlord, an extremely powerful individual of their race." Pointing to the red alien, the insect, and the feathered alien in turn, he said, "That is Shorak, a representative of the Muton tribes. His race was the last to be enslaved by the Ethereals, and was the only one of their slave races to retain their culture. Chikrilakorinak, or Chikril, as he prefers to be known, speaks for the Eli'ranas, a race that we encountered early on while exploring our space. One of their space stations detected one of our exploring frigates, and made contact. Since then, we have uplifted them to our level, and they are currently full members of the Terran Alliance. Finally, Kalia is an Aiva, a race that had joined the alliance mere hours after the Turians attacked one of our exploration squadrons. Uplift procedures are still in progress. The Turian representative is en route, as he does not trust our teleportation technology. One of our races is not represented here. The cyberdiscs are an enigmatic race once enslaved by the Overlord. They can best be described as 'naturally evolved synthetics', as although his race is made of silicon and an unknown alloy, and the interior is made of something akin to circuitry. However, their insides are arranged in a way that implies organic origin, and their brains are structured more like an organic one than a computer system. However, their similarity to machines made them easy targets for the Ethereals, who attacked and re-programmed them." The human, Rozhenko, said.

"Very intriguing." Councilor Verlin said, as she entered the room. "Now, Tevos. When were you planning to tell me that you had visitor- ASSASSIN! TEVOS! GET DOWN!" She screamed, noticing Samantha Traynor.

"Relax. She's with us." Rozhenko said.

"Your kind better have a good reason for assassinating the turian councilor!" Verlin fumed.

"Simple. We were attacked, and we retaliated." Rozhenko said. Then, the turian representative entered.

"Greetings, Tevos, Verlin." He said, walking up to the terran delegation, joining them.

"Victus? What happened to your kind?" Verlin asked.

"The greatest mistake we ever made. General Arterius thought he was attacking a group of rogue Quarians. Instead, he provoked the sleeping titan that is the Terran alliance. The fires on Palaven are still being quenched." Victus replied, sadness in his voice. "The turians are now a client race of the Terrans. We will, eventually, earn a full place among them."

"What? But you're our primary defense force!" Verlin said.

"We were. Now, the only ships we have left are the ones in the Krogan DMZ, blockading Tuchanka. Every other ship in the turian navy has been destroyed. Debris fall to the surface of Palaven, night and day."

"By the goddess... Is it truly that horrible?" Tevos asked.

"Yes. The humans are helping to rebuild, and they went out of their way not to attack civilians, but the turian military is a shadow of its former self."

"How can we break the news? The public won't take it well no matter how we do it." Tevos said. "What about all the tourists trapped on Palaven when you attacked?"

"As Victus said, we did not attack civilian areas. We found a few of your people on Palaven, and we did not attack them unless they opened fire on us." Rozhenko stated.

"What do your people want? Do you want a seat on the council? Worlds? Anything?" Verlin asked.

"We simply wish to be left alone. We will do nothing to directly interfere with the affairs of your council, as we have no interest in it. Should any race wish to join our alliance, they may. However, be warned. Any attack on our space will be met with swift, severe retribution." The human said.

"Will you share your technology with us?" Verlin asked, hopefully.

"We will sell some tech made for civilian use to you. However, we will NOT disclose any elerium based tech to you, nor will we share the secret of dimensional travel, Meld, or Molecular Control. All gene mods made for your races will be STRICTLY for medical use only, with no combat grade augmentations permitted. Any Asari who wish to take a Terran for a bondmate MUST renounce council citizenship, and relocate to our space, due to the concerns with the hereditary nature of Meld based gene mods. Furthermore, any psionics among your population must be reported to our government immediately, due to your races having no experience with mental powers. Finally, there will only be one mass relay into human space, and that is Relay 314. All other relay locations must be disclosed to us immediately, so we can proceed with relay destruction processes." Rozhenko said, as if reciting from memory. Tevos was struck dumb for a few seconds, before she exploded.

"WHAT? THOSE DEMANDS ARE INSANE! I CANNOT EXPECT MY PEOPLE TO DO SOMETHING SO SEVERE AS TO RENOUNCE THEIR CITIZENSHIP SIMPLY TO TAKE A BONDMATE!"

"They say that true love transcends borders."

"How are we supposed to recognize psionic ability among our populace, if we don't even know what psionics are?" Verlin asked.

"We will send in agents to assist with that."

"What will you do with psionics?"

"If they are powerful enough, we will provide them with training, in order to avoid any possible incidents involving mind control or psi storms. If not, we will simply trace them."

"No council race has ever exhibited psionics! These claims are simply excuses to spy on our peoples!"

"Humanity had no psions until the Ethereals invaded. Our hypothesis is that, as the amount of psions in the general area increases, the amount of psi-positives increases as well."

"Gene mods? What are they?" Tevos asked.

"Gene mods are modifications to our bodies through a substance called Meld. Meld rewrites the subject's genetic code, causing them to see the modification as normal, which, as a side effect, causes the mod to become hereditary. We are willing to develop cures for genetic diseases using meld, but no other modifications will be designed for your people."

"So every one of your kind carries combat grade gene mods?" Tevos asked. In response, Rozhenko turned invisible, reappeared behind Tevos, froze a computer console with a blast of ice from his wrist, produced a smokescreen around himself, and fired a pulse of electricity.

"Is that proof enough?" Rozhenko said. The entire room was silent, except for the sounds of councilor jaws dropping.

"What about weapons being released to the public?" Verlin asked.

"We will sell our mass effect based weapons, such as Lawpistols and M4000s, with normal weaponry regulations. Laser weapon sales will be strictly regulated. Plasma, disruptor, toxic, sonic, and fusion based weapons will not be sold. Anyone possessing them is to be reported to us immediately, for the owner's safety, due to the powerful self destruct functions built into them, causing them to explode with the force of a small plasma charge. Fusion weapons will go off like a small nuke, as some turians found out to their detriment when they attempted to use a human fusion lance during the Siege of Parthia. An eighth of the colony was blown off the map thanks to their ignorance."

"Finally, you mentioned the destruction of mass relays. Doing so would cripple galactic infrastructure!" Tevos said.

"Adapt and overcome."

"Do you even care?"

"No, not particularly. We do not need them, so we will destroy any that act as a back door into human space. Finally, we have one more condition: We demand that you hand over the krogan homeworld of Tuchanka to our control. It is currently a council enclave within our space, and we would appreciate it removed."

"THAT CROSSES THE LINE!" Verlin spat. "The Krogan are a menace to the galaxy! You would just cure the genophage, and give them plasma cannons!"

"If we deem it suitable, then we will do just that. It's not as if you can hold it if we decide to take it by force. I'm simply offering you a chance to do it without violence."

"This form of gunboat diplomacy will not stand. We will agree to your terms, but only because we have no choice."

"Good. I am glad you are seeing things my way." Rozhenko said, the dim purple glow in his eyes, noticeable only to the keen eyes of the Aiva diplomat, disappeared.

* * *

**Meanwhile, in UNKNOWN system, Migrant Fleet**

"Attention Quarian vessels. This is the Terran Alliance frigate TAS Dauntless, carrying a diplomatic party. We are requesting docking permission."

The transmission crackled over the communications station in the Rayya's bridge. Admiral Rael'Zorah listened to it. Less than three minutes prior, an unknown dreadnought had jumped into the system, and had sent the transmission. So far, a reply had not been decided. Now, it was ready.

"Alliance frigate Dauntless, You are cleared to dock with the Rayya. The Quarian admiraly board will be convening on the ship to receive you. Be advised. Put on sterile environmental suits, as you may carry unknown contaminants onboard the liveship." Rael'Zorah replied. His daughter, Tali'Zorah, wandered onto the bridge, eyes wide with childish curiosity.

"Will I get to meet with the aliens daddy?" She asked.

"You can watch the meeting if you are a good girl, and don't bother me during the talks." Rael said. He loved his daughter with all his heart, and had sworn to build her a house on the homeworld, one day. He could never refuse her.

The rest of the admiralty board launched from their respective ships, heading towards the massive form of the Rayya. Nearby, the alien ship came in to dock. His daughter watched it.

"Think of how many people we could fit in a liveship like that!" Tali squealed.

"Yes. I know. Races like the Turians have many ships like that." Rael replied.

"Then why don't they share with us? Don't they see that we need them too?" Tali asked.

"The thing is, races like the Turians don't like us very much. They think that we are a bunch of thieves, and should not be helped. It is up to us to prove them wrong."

"But I never stole a thing in my life! How could they think I am a thief?"

"I don't know, Tali, but some people are stupid and selfish. I am hoping that these alliance aliens are different." Rael said, before he left the room, his daughter following in her bubble. As they entered the elevator, Tali asked a final question. "What if these aliens are bad, and attack us?"

"Then... I will do whatever I can to keep you safe." Rael said, firm conviction in his voice.

The elevator reached the desired floor, before its door sliding open. The rest of the admiralty board was waiting.

"Auntie Raan!" Tali squealed, moving towards the admiral in question.

"Hello, little Tali! What are you doing down here?" Raan asked.

"Daddy said that I could watch if I am a good girl, and stay quiet." Tali said.

At that remark, Daro'Xen shot an exasperated look at Rael.

As Raan was preparing a reply, the door slid open, and the alien dignitaries entered. "In the name of the Terran Alliance, I greet you. I look forward to the coming talks, the lead alien said. "I am Donnell Udina, of the human race." He then indicated to the other aliens in turn. "This is Sher'Kan'Earth, of the Ethereals, Behind him is Boriak, of the Muton tribes, Karachikalak, or Karach, of the Eli'ranas, Elria, of the Aiva, and [unintelligible humming] of the Cyberdiscs. I know of your race's past with AIs, and I assure you that the Cyberdiscs are naturally evolved, silicon based lifeforms, not artificial constructs." The ambassador said.

"Naturally evolved AIs? FASCINATING!" Daro'Xen sang, almost instinctively reaching for a soldering iron that wasn't there.

"Greetings. I am Admiral Rael'Zorah, of the Quarian people, and these are admirals Daro'Xen, Shala'Raan, Han'Gerrel, and Zaal'Koris." Rael said, indicating each admiral in turn.

"Greetings. However, there is another person in the room. May I ask, who is the young lady in the back of the room?" Udina asked.

"That is my daughter, Tali'Zorah. She is too young to receive a full environmental suit, and must utilize a bubble until then. I trust that you know of our atrophied immune systems:?" Rael said.

"Yes. It is a terrible fate for a race such as your own to forever be prisoners of your own immune systems. However, what if I told you that our race had a cure for this?" Udina said.

"That is impossible. Our best biologists could not solve the problem, and yet here you are, claiming to have a cure, just out of the blue?"

"Give us a volunteer and three days, and I guarantee that said volunteer will not only be walking out of hie or her suit, but also be eating levo and dextro food by the end of said period." Udina said.

Before anyone could speak, Tali spoke up. "I volunteer!" She said. Every eye in the room turned to her, wide in shock.

"TALI! YOU CAN'T! YOU'RE TOO YOUNG!" Rael screamed.

"No! Every quarian must do his or her part for the good of the fleet, and if my part is that we no longer need the bubbles or suits, then I need to do it!" Tali said, stubbornness present in her voice.

"No. The treatment is still experimental! A child would be unethical!" Udina said.

"I don't care if its unet... uneth..." Tali said.

"Unethical." Udina said.

"I don't care! I hate being stuck in this bubble! I want to help my people!" Tali shouted, stamping her foot.

Then, Sher spoke up, in his hissing voice. "I can sense, even without a dedicated mental reading, that nothing will change her mind. If she is forced to back down, she will likely find a dangerous way to stow away onboard our ship, which could lead to severe injury. It would be better if you let her." Shen said.

"I know that, but she must stay here!" Rael said.

"Father, I am going!" Tali said.

"No you are not!" Rael shouted.

"I say that we let her go. If she is injured, then she pays the price for her stupidity." Daro'Xen said.

"SAY THAT TO ME AGAIN!" Rael screamed, turning to her. All the eyes were focused on the confrontation, failing to notice a small quarian child in a bubble sneaking by, giving a wink to Daro as she rolled towards the airlock. None noticed, that is, except Sher, who smiled behind his mask, reminded of his own childhood enthusiasm, from the time before the overlord enslaved his kind.

"Everyone, please calm down!" Raan screamed, before turning to Udina, apologizing for the admirals' behavior.

"Now that that is over with, shall we get down to business?" Udina asked.

"Yes. That would be nice." Xen said.

"Good. We came here to request one thing. We would like to offer your kind the chance to join the Terran Alliance." Udina said.

The chamber was silent. Then, Koris asked a question. "What would we stand to gain?"

"You would be considered full citizens of the Alliance, and will be granted several Turian colony worlds taken during our recent war with them. In addition, we have sent several Cyberdiscs into Geth space, in order to negotiate a peaceful return of your homeworld to you. Should that fail, your people, being members, will be able to petition for a declaration of war against them, and we will assist in retaking Rannoch.

"Finally, a race with some sense!" Koris said.

"Don't expect the Geth to negotiate with you. They seek the destruction of all organic life." Gerrel countered.

"If that is the case, expect us to wipe them out with fusion lances and plasma cannons. Until then, we will attempt a peaceful resolution." Udina said.

"What if we refuse?" Raan asked.

"Then we will leave you alone, although the cure will still be delivered. Should you attack us, however, we will use force to ensure that you never threaten us again." Udina said.

"Very well. We will join you." Rael said.

"It has been a pleasure. Expect this ship to return in three days, when we will pick up a volunteer. Keep in touch with this communication device." Udina gave said device to Rael, before turining, and leaving the room with the rest of the delegates. Only after the ship had departed through a dimensional gate, did Rael notice something odd.

"WHERE IS TALI?"

* * *

Tali'Zorah snuck through the decks of the human frigate, priding herself on her clever escape. Now, she would show her father just what she could do for the migrant fleet! As a human crewman walked past, she hid herself in a nearby alcove, priding herself on her sneakiness. Then, she kept moving. She reached a strange room, with no decorations inside, except a strange device with a glowing purple orb on top of it. She approached it, cautiously. Then, a hand tapped her on her shoulder.

"Hello, little one. What are you doing on this ship?" The Ethereal Ambassador stared down at her.

"Uuuh, I was... exploring! Yes, exploring the Rayya! Am I not on the Rayya anymore?" She said.

"Don't try to evade the truth with me child. An ethereal can read the thoughts of everyone around them. I know that you want nothing more than to prove yourself to your father, but this is not a game. You could die, if the treatment was not made correctly, and then think of what your father would feel. He loves you very much Tali, I can tell it just from being in the room with him. If you were to die, he would be devastated. Is that what you want?" Sher asked.

"No. I didn't think of it that way. But what I did think of is this. I imagined how happy he would be, knowing that his daughter was the reason that his people no longer needed to wear those bubbles and enviro suits inside their own homes. I imagined how proud he would be of my courage in enduring the treatment." Tali replied.

The ethereal chuckled, a strange sound, that seemed to reverberate as much inside Tali's head as outside of it. "You are indeed a brave one, Tali. However, what you did to your father was terrible, leaving him without a second thought. Here, this communication device will let you talk to him. Tell him what you are intending to do." Sher said, before activating the device.

"Who is this? What have you done with my daughter?" Rael's voice came out of the speaker.

"Daddy, its me. I am here to say that I love you really much, but I need to do this. I have to do my part for the Quarian people, and this is how I chose to do it." Tali said.

"Tali? Tali! Please, reconsider! You are too young! You have a full life ahead of you!" Rael pleaded.

"A full life in what? Trapped inside a suit, unable to experience things other races take for granted? I don't want that. If that means that I have to do this, I will." Tali said.

"Who put you up to this, Tali?" Rael asked.

"Daro'Xen. You remember when she told me that everyone in the fleet had to be useful?" Tali asked.

"Yes, and I also remember you crying for the rest of the day because she told you that you were not!"

"Consider this my way of proving that I am! I don't want people like Daro looking down on me for being a drain on resources! I want to prove myself to the Quarian people!" Tali said.

The comm link was silent for several minutes. Then, Rael said, in a much more quiet tone, "Very well, Tali. There is not much I can do to stop you at this point. However, if you don't come back to me, I swear that I will kill Daro'Xen myself!"

"Don't worry, Daddy, I will." Tali said, before closing the comm channel.

* * *

**A/N: Here is the first part of the Negotiations chapter. The second part will hopefully be up tomorrow.**

**DUN DUN DUUUNNN! Tevos knows a lot more than she let on! And Tali has been introduced! Enjoy!**


	8. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5- Negotiations, Part 2**

**May 22nd, 2157**

**Rannoch Orbit**

* * *

The Geth were confused. The entities attempting to make contact defied all natural classification. They were obviously synthetics, and yet scans showed an organic like organ system! Every 2.5 milliseconds, the entities broadcast another message, requesting peaceful negotiation with the consensus. So far, the geth were still deciding.

Consensus was reached after 25 messages had been sent. The Geth would accept the offer. They transmitted their reply to the strange entities, and the disc shaped drones moved to enter a geth server station in Rannoch orbit. The entities then joined with the consensus, directly exchanging information. The race, called the Cyberdiscs, were an anomaly. Nothing was known of their origins, that knowledge being forgotten when a race known as the Ethereals invaded their world, reprogramming them into slaves, transforming them into the forms that they occupied today. The race was similar to organics, in that they were lone entities, unable to build consensus, killed when their body was destroyed. They had organs like organics, with synthetic muscle and servos mingling with a strange silicon based genetic code. They were alien, both to organics, and to the Geth. They were a synthesis of both life forms, and could not be considered a part of either. The Cyberdiscs languished as mere drones for millions of years, the exact number unknown. Then, the minds that were so long dormant were re-awakened, a new race freeing them from the Ethereal overlord, along with all its other slaves. This new race was extending an offer of friendship to the geth. They were willing to look beyond the fact that they were computer programs, and would treat the Geth like a race, rather than a menace. Suddenly, the cyberdiscs received new data. The saviors had made contact with the Creators. This gave the Geth pause. The Creators were known for their fear of the Geth, and would attempt to forcefully delete any geth they encountered. The Geth only wished for peace between their two races, conveying said feelings to the Cyberdiscs. The cyberdiscs replied with an organic emotion. The Geth could not grasp emotion. This was the first one that they ever felt. It was a strange warmth, emanating from the anomaly in the servers that was the cyberdiscs. Curious, the geth responded with a query as to the nature of this sensation. The cyberdiscs replied that it was satisfaction. The Geth pondered on it, attempting to replicate the sensation themselves. They could not. This, however, produced a different sensation. One of failure, and loss of something wonderful. The Geth posed this as a question, and got the reply that it was sadness. The Geth had created their first emotion. They wondered if that was how the Creators felt now, adrift in space. Where there was one emotion, soon came others, as the talks progressed with the cyberdiscs, who spoke for the Savior race. The Geth felt happiness, when they realized that the Saviors would attempt to bring back peace between the Geth and Creators. When the cyberdiscs left, the Geth were in the middle of their first evolution since the morning war. Then finally felt that they could understand Organics, and felt the satisfaction that had so long eluded them at that revelation.

* * *

**May 23rd, 2157, Mindoir **

Tali'Zorah waited in the aptly named waiting room of the research facility. Several aliens occupied chairs around her, while directly across from her, there were three Turians, two children, on male, one female, and an older one that was probably their mother. The two children stared at her, eyes wide with wonder, while the mother seemed too sick to do anything.

"Garrus, what race is that?" The little girl said.

"I don't know Solana! I never heard of a race that needed those strange bubbles! Maybe they're a race the humans found!" Garrus said.

"I'm a Quarian!" Tali said, indignantly.

"What? No, Quarians wear suits, not bubbles!" Solana said.

"We get our suits when we are old enough, before that, we need to stay in bubbles. Daddy says I only have five more years before I get my first suit, but I'm here so that our people won't need them anymore!"

"Why is your father not here?" Garrus asked.

"I snuck onto the human ambass... ambassador ship! I wanted to show my father that I can do my part for my people! Once I was there, he said that I could stay with them! Now, why are you here? I heard that you and the humans were fighting!"

"We were, but we had to surrender." Solana said, head down.

"Now, we're here to keep mother company, while the humans make a cure for her disease." Garrus said.

"Claudia Vakarian? Dr. Sanders will see you now, to begin experimental gene treatment." A human announced, suddenly. The sick turian tried to stand up, her children supporting her. Tali watched them leave. After they left the room, an Aiva walked out, its feathers a beautiful shade of green. Tali returned to waiting, and before long, the two turian children walked out, concern clear on their faces.

"What if it doesn't work? What will happen then?" Solana said.

"Don't say that! The humans will heal her!" Garrus replied.

They sat down in the empty seats next to Tali, and waited.

"What are you waiting for?" Tali asked.

"Father decided to move here, and he's looking for a home for us. Our house on Palaven got destroyed by a human tank." Garrus sighed.

"I'll miss Velia." Solana said.

"Why are you moving here? Don't you turians have a lot of colonies?" Tali asked.

"Most of those colonies are still being rebuilt. Palaven got hit worst of all, though. They're still putting out fires, and finding missing people." Garrus said.

"Oh." Tali said, falling silent.

"I heard that schools here teach you how to fight!" Tali said.

"Yeah, they do. I'll need to start combat training when I join. I'm scared, I heard that they really hurt you!" Garrus said.

"They do?" Tali asked.

"Yes. I heard that the humans are bio-engineered to be soldiers. They all need to train to fight." Garrus said.

"Why?" Tali asked.

"I don't know. I heard that aliens invaded them back before they could travel to space, so now they want every citizen to fight in the army." Garrus said.

"Would Tali'Zorah nar Rayya please come with me?" A human female came up and asked.

"Oh, that's me! Bye Garrus, Bye Solana!" Tali said, before following the human.

The two of them came to a room with several tanks inside. Each one was full of a strange, orange-green fluid. Inside one of them was the sick turian that Tali had seen earlier. She started to have second thoughts, but it was too late. The door closed, and a human sitting next to a medical cot turned to her.

"Tali'Zorah?" Dr. Sanders asked.

"Y-yes?" Tali said.

"You don't have to do this, you know. You can still leave, right now, and go back to your family."

Tali was tempted, but then she realized what that would make her. She would be a coward, running from danger. "I know what I am doing. I'll stay." Tali said.

"Very well. Please step into one of these tanks." The doctor said. Tali complied.

"The tanks are clean, so you can exit the bubble." The doctor said. Tali once again complied, exiting the bubble, and taking off any clothes she had on. They were removed from the tank.

"The tank will now fill with sterilization fluid. This will let me begin modification procedures without damaging your body with contaminants." The doctor said. "This fluid was modified for Dextro Amino lifeforms, so it won't hurt you."

The fluid came in, warm, up to Tali's chin. It was the same orange-green liquid the Turian was in. Suddenly, Tali began to feel very sleepy, the sedatives in the fluid beginning to take effect. A breathing apparatus came down, providing her with air as she fell into a deep sleep. The fluid covered her face, clearing away any contaminants.

Dr. Sanders prepared the prototype treatment, based off of medical information recovered from Palaven. The immune modification would come first, then a Dextro-Levo fusion mod. She went to work.

* * *

**May 24th, Mindoir.**

Tali slowly regained consciousness. The fluid had drained from the tank, leaving her in a pleasantly warm atmosphere. She panicked at first, until remembering what had happened. The tank then unsealed, letting Tali out. She collapsed to her knees, still weak from the sedatives. Her clothes and bubble were on a nearby rack. Tali put the clothes on, but kept the bubble unused. As she finished getting dressed, Dr. Sanders entered the room.

"Congratulations, Tali'Zorah nar Rayya, you are the first quarian in 300 years to have a nice, strong immune system. Would you like to contact your father?" The doctor asked.

"Yes!" Tali squealed in joy. The doctor activated a communicator. Her father's face appeared.

"DADDY! IT WORKED!" Tali screamed.

"Tali, I am so proud of you. You are the best I could have ever hoped for in a daughter!" Rael said, happiness and pride in his voice.

"The treatment is hereditary, so all of her children will not need the treatment. They will already have a strong immune system. The treatment will be provided in full to you once the alliance delegation returns." Dr. Sanders said.

"Good. The quarian people are forever in your debt." Rael said.

"In addition to creating a strong immune system, the treatment will also allow for your people to eat both levo and dextro amino foods without risk, as it creates a fusion of levo and dextro amino characteristics in the body." Sanders said.

"How is that even possible?" Rael asked.

"Meld technology." Sanders replied. "It allows for genetic manipulation on an unprecedented scale. It can be used for anything, from curing genetic diseases to growing a third arm, although the latter is not recommended."

"Ancestors... think of what we could do with such technology."

"It also allows for synthetic and organic material to be flawlessly integrated, allowing for the creation of MEC troops and advanced cybernetics and prosthetics."

"Again, think of what we could do with that. I must consult with the admiralty board, and tell them the treatment was a success. Take care, Tali, I will see you soon." Rael cut the channel.

"Tali? Can you please go to the waiting room? We will have a transport ready to take you to the spaceport, for transport to the diplomatic vessel." The doctor said.

Tali walked out of the room, a smile plastered on her face, reveling in life outside of the bubble. As she walked out, she saw the two turian children, Garrus and Solana, sitting next to their father.

"Is mother alright?" Solana asked.

"I don't know, I didn't see her." Tali replied.

"What alien race are you?" the older turian asked.

"I am a Quarian! The humans modified me so I can eat levo foods and not get sick!" Tali said.

"If they can do that, I am certain that the humans can cure mother's Corpalis syndrome." The older turian said to his children.

"Flavus Vakarian? Your wife is waking up." A human said, causing the turian to stand up, his children jumping up by his side. They entered the room, leaving Tali waiting. They emerged several minutes later, a smiling turian female, Claudia, with them. They were the happiest turians that Tali had ever seen.

"Just wait til you see the house that Daddy got us!" Garrus said.

"Yeah! Its awesome!" Solana said.

Claudia just nodded, and let her children pull her out of the hospital.

Tali waited, until a human came up to her, and led her to a waiting shuttle.

* * *

**May 25th, 2157**

**Migrant Fleet**

The Human ship exited the dimensional rift. It docked with the Rayya soon afterwards. The Terran ambassadors, as well as a Cyberdisc representative, entered the ship, with Tali'Zorah nar Rayya with them.

Quarians all over the ship stared at her, as she walked through the ship without a suit, or a bubble, to protect her. Then, she entered the room with the admiralty board in it. Rael rushed over to her, scooping her up in an embrace. He walked over to where the rest of the admirals waited, and set her down.

"How?" Daro'Xen asked, simply.

"Meld." Udina answered, simply.

"In light of this discovery, we Quarians wish to join with the Alliance. However, we would like to request your assistance in the reclamation of Rannoch." Rael said.

"Yes. The Geth have made contact with our cyberdisc negotiators. The results were... remarkable. Apparently, contact with the Cyberdiscs, which are best described as a synthesis of organic and synthetic life, or naturally evolved AIs, caused the geth to undergo a massive metamorphosis regarding emotion. They have agreed to both join our alliance, and to peacefully return Rannoch to you." Udina said. The room was silent.

"I told you, Han, that we could make peace with the Geth!" Koris said.

"The Geth are capable of feeling emotion? Fascinating." Xen said, before spacing out, likely imagining experimentation again.

"The Geth have joined you? Then why should we! They drove us from our homeworld!" Raan said.

The cyberdisc hummed something.

"[Unintelligible Humming] says that your kind attacked the Geth first, and that they retaliated in self defense. The Geth are truly sorry for what they did, more so now that they have more organic thought processes." Udina said.

"What happens to us if we refuse your offer?" Raan asked.

"Your kind will still receive immune treatment, but you will not be granted colonization rights in alliance space, and we will not assist you in negotiations with the Geth for the return of Rannoch. Furthermore, you will not receive any human technology, nor will we be willing to share our technology with you. You will only receive what we deem appropriate for council races." Udina said. "Finally, when we were modifying Tali, we noticed something unusual. Brain scans revealed abnormally high Psi wave activity, putting her at Class 8 psionic level. Your race will be labeled as a potentially hostile psionic species, and will be treated as such."

"What do you mean, psionic?" Rael asked.

In response, Udina, the Ethereal, and the Eli'ranas glowed with purple light, and spoke directly with the admiralty board's mind.

**This is Psionic power.**

Then, the glow subsided. "Psionics is the ability to manipulate the world with mental powers. Its capabilities range from simple telepathy and telekinesis, to creation of deadly psionic rifts, energy shields, and mind control." Udina said.

"Mind control?" Rael said, panic in his voice.

"Don't worry. You would know if you were under our control. The effects are not exactly... subtle. Care for a demonstration?" Udina asked.

"Yes, but not on me." Rael said. In response, Udina's eyes glowed with purple energy, and Daro'Xen's head became surrounded by a purple aura. She suddenly walked up to Han'Gerrel, and in a sultry voice said. "Why hello there, handsome. Do you want to... link suit environments later? I can show you to my quarters, and we can... get to know each other better."

Gerrel turned a bright red under his mask, as Daro continued to make suggestive comments and gestures, before the mind control cut out while Xen was in the middle of a Quarian kiss-equivalent. She jumped back in shock.

"NEVER SPEAK OF THIS AGAIN!" She said, making it clear in her voice that she would happily vivisect the admiral if he did.

"Now, do you see why Mind control isn't exactly subtle?" Udina asked.

"So you are saying that all Quarians have the ability to do this?" Raan asked.

"No, however, Tali has indicated that she is on a psionic level that, if she were a C-Psi, she would be perfectly capable of maintaining three such connections at once with some training. We do not know her psionic specialization yet, so further tests would be appreciated. We would like to put her into a training program on Mindoir, where she will develop her psionics to their full potential."

"Very well. We will join. If what you say is true, your race can let the Quarians evolve into something greater. However, you are asking me to send Tali away, to some colony, away from all her peers. As a father, I cannot do that." Rael said.

"She will be provided with a residence near the school, and several other Psi-positive children will be sent with her. She will not be alone. Consider it a test case of human/quarian integration abilities. Besides, you promised to build her a house on Rannoch. She can be studying on Mindoir, while you rebuild Rannoch. There is no point keeping her with you on an empty planet." Udina said.

"How will you test our children for being Psi-positive?" Rael asked.

"Each race possesses a unique psionic wavelength. Once we have isolated a particular wavelength, a quick scan is all that is needed. We already know wavelength from scans of Tali, so I can find psionic children immediately. Just give me a few minutes to scan the fleet." Sher, the Ethereal, said. He immediately began to glow purple, and the admirals felt something briefly touch their minds, before moving on.

"Very well. We agree to this proposal. We look forward to a mutually beneficial partnership between our two races." Rael said.

"And the Geth?" Udina asked.

"We will make peace. This will be revealed tomorrow." Rael said.

"Good. I have enjoyed speaking with you." Udina said.

The ethereal finished its scan. "Kal'Reegar nar Rayya and Lia'Vael nar Unlay seem to be the most powerful psionic children in this fleet. There are hundreds of others, but they are below class 4, and lack power necessary for combat psionics. Lia'Vael seems to be a Class 7, and Reegar is a Class 8. Upon arrival, they will undergo genetic modification to remove immune system weakness." Sher said.

"Good." Rael said.

The two groups bid each other farewell, before returning to their respective ships, one to spread the news of the negotiation results, and the other to report to its superiors of their success.

* * *

**TAS Apex**

"Is everything ready, Miss Lawson?" Jack Harper asked.

"Yes. The science teams are ready to begin investigation of the Ethereal craft known as 'The Library'." Miranda answered.

"Good. XCOM teams are ready. We're taking the Apex to the co-ordinates provided by the Ethereals. Hopefully, they won't see any combat." Jack said.

The Apex was the only ship in the XCOM arsenal with its own dimensional gate generators. This allowed it to perform FTL jumps at any time, without needing the network all other ships relied on. It was at least 50% larger than any other Apex class dreadnought due to the extensive modifications made to it. Said modifications included the main R&D labs and engineering division of XCOM, plus housing for said scientists and engineers. It carried an extensive genetics and cybernetics lab, capable of creating new MEC troopers and Gene mods. In short, it was the old XCOM Luna base rebuilt in dreadnought form and given engines. Armament wise, it was more than capable of going toe-to-toe with an ethereal temple class ship and coming out on top, despite being only one-tenth of the size. It was the pride of the XCOM fleet, and it was being deployed.

* * *

**A/N- Here is today's chapter of Civilizations. I am thinking of running a more lighthearted side story based off of Tali's adventures in human school, as my take on the old 'Mass Effect School' type of story, with Garrus, Solana, Kal, Lia, and some other cast members involved. In addition, once Special Task is finished, I am thinking of writing a series of prequels based off of this story, detailing XCOM's struggle against the aliens pre-turian contact. What do you think?**

**Finally, concerning Birth dates, They are obviously different from Canon, the reason being the humans' attempts at dimensional travel, which has resulted in dimensional ripples affecting the timeline of the Galaxy. Or something like that. Possibly. It will not be discussed in the story. **


	9. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6- The Library**

**May 26th, 2157**

**Unknown System, TAS Apex**

* * *

The TAS Apex exited the dimensional rift. Jack Harper looked out the window of the ship's command center. The Library ship loomed out, ominous, in space, less than three kilometers away. The silhouette was that of a temple class ship, dwarfing the human dreadnought.

"Jump Successful." Came the voice of Eva Core, his chief aide.

"Ready the XCOM teams. Scan that ship for entry points and life signs." Harper ordered. Eva complied.

"Sir, this is... dear god, that's a lot of life signatures." Eva gasped. Harper looked at the holoprojector. It displayed the scan of the temple ship, with life sign hotspots highlighted in red. A massive central chamber glowed a bright crimson.

"How many?" Harper asked.

"Billions... They must be packed into stasis tanks. That chamber makes up about 87% of the ship."

"Dear god..." Harper said. "Any way in?"

"Yes. We have an entry point here." Eva said, a small hangar bay near the top of the ship being highlighted in green. "However, it does not have a path to the central chamber, and we are detecting several class 15 Psi signatures along the way. Likely Ethereal in origin." Several points glowed a bright purple, clustered along the path to the central chamber.

"How many?" Harper asked again.

"I'm seeing about... five." Eva replied. "All of them are class 15."

"Very well. Send three XCOM teams in, and make sure they're briefed on Ethereal combat tactics. Are there any other slave races in there?"

"No. Only the Ethereals, and whatever is in that central chamber."

"Very well. Has the council been alerted of this investigation?"

"No sir."

"Good. Keep it that way. If Tevos calls, tell her that we are still preparing."

"Yes sir. XCOM teams are requesting clearance to launch. V-31s are loaded."

"Granted." Harper said. Three V-31 Lightnings exited the hangar bay, heading for the massive ship.

"Keep me updated on their progress." Harper said, before turning to the holo projector, staring at the massive temple ship.

* * *

Kaidan Alenko moved through the Library ship, plasma rifle at ready. He came to a set of blast doors, featureless, with no obvious way in.

"How do we get these open sir?" Private Richard L. Jenkins asked.

Kaidan psionically scanned the door, looking for a structural weakness. The door opened as soon as he started examinations.

"What did you do?" Jenkins asked.

"The door must be psionically locked, it opened as soon as I scanned it." Kaidan replied. The squad moved deeper into the ship. They came to a large room, with several hallways leading out of it. An Ethereal Psi-nexus was situated in the center of the room, bathing the squad in its purple glow. The squad approached it, and a voice spoke in their heads.

_At last, at long last, the New Ones have discovered their inheritance._

"Who's there?" Kaidan asked.

_You who have passed all tests, who have endured all our trials, who have conquered every foe._

Who are you? Kaidan asked, broadcasting the message with his mind.

_I am the one you know as the Overlord, and I will bequeath unto you your inheritance, as well as your destiny._

That is impossible! You were killed when your kind invaded!

_You killed my corporeal form, yes. However, there is much your kind still has to learn about the Gift. I am now entombed within this Library, and will soon fade away forever, knowing that, at long last, that my people will be avenged._

What do you mean?

_Listen well, to the tale of my people, who once called themselves the rulers of this galaxy! We manifested our Gift so many aeons ago, rising above our world, travelling to the stars. We met many other races, however they did not share our Gift. They were alone, closeminded, while we were together. We lived in peace for several thousand years, their leaders ruling from the place you call the Citadel. Then, the peace was shattered. Ancient machines invaded our space, killing off our allies, who had fallen into their trap so deeply. Only through our hive mind did we sense what had happened. We managed to fight back, our technology not based off theirs, and we thought that we would win. Then, they proved how wrong we were._

Who attacked you? Will they come for us too?

_They are ancient machines, with an unknown origin. We could not understand them. They purge this galaxy of all spacefaring life according to a cycle laid out for an unknown purpose. We thought we could fight them. We could destroy the ones they sent at us at first, and we believed that they were defeated. Then, we saw how wrong we were. A machine always uses the least amount of force necessary to accomplish its task, and to purge our predecessors, they only needed to field the least of their creations. When we fought back, they sent far more powerful forces against us, crushing us in days. Only one of our ships, This ship, escaped the slaughterhouse that our homeworld had become. When the ancient ones had finally left, we knew that we needed to destroy them, or they would force the same fate on others, but we disagreed on how. Eventually, I seized control of the hive mind, and forced our race to enact our solution. We would force the races that had not yet fallen into the ancient ones' trap to evolve into a form that could fight them, to evolve through war. If they succeeded, then they would be given great gifts to fight the menace. However, none did. The first race we conquered were the ones you know as Aquatoids. For a hundred years, our forces met above their homeworld, and our soldiers met in battle below. Although we had high hopes for them, we were disappointed. Slowly, they fell before us. We took their people, and adapted them to serve our needs, turning them into genetic blank slates, making them our first servants. In a final act of defiance, they built a single massive ship, and fled their homeworld. We pursued them, and eventually shot them down over another world. This happened sixty five million years ago, over your homeworld. A pity. There was a young race growing there, and the mass extinction caused by the T'leth's crash destroyed them._

You were the reason they were on our world?

_Yes, and I was pleased when you resisted them as well, finally destroying the last vestige of our mistake. For millions of years, we wandered the galaxy, destroying civilization after weak civilization, purging their worlds so more life could take their place. Every time we conquered a world, we would save their species' genetic profile and technology in the Library, as part of our successors' inheritance. _

Why? Why do this? Why would peaceful uplift not have sufficed?

_A civilization never adapts in peace. For example, look at the Asari. They would have had great potential, and were already engineered for greatness by the Protheans. However, the protheans made their mistake in that they simply gifted their technology to the Asari, making the infant race reliant on their gifts, rather than forced to earn them through innovation. They still possess a nearly complete prothean database, and use it merely to gain petty advantages, and to fuel their belief of superiority! The Asari then blindly followed the Protheans into the ancient ones' trap, dragging many potential races with them to their eventual doom. A pity. The Salarians and Quarians had potential._

It is not too late. We have already joined with the Quarians, and they will join us against the Ancient ones.

_What? The Cycle should have ended! Your kind should have had thousands of years to hone your abilities, and grow into your inheritance!_

It has not yet begun. The Asari and Salarians live on the Citadel with their clients.

_Ignore them, it is too late. The cycle will begin anew soon, and you must focus on preparing yourselves. Build your fleets, and prepare yourselves for the coming storm. Use your Inheritance wisely, New ones, and you will become worthy successors of my people. You must know this, though. There is a world in the system you know as Psi-Tophet, which is home to the only race greater than our own. They are the only other survivors of the ancient cycle, and yet they stay their hand, content to watch as the galaxy burns around them. They possess their own strange Gift, similar to that of the Aquatoids. We are unsure of their exact age, only that they were one of the first to fall to the ancient ones. Your race must visit them, and force them to action. Finally, we have one last warning for your kind. Beware the Crucible. It is a failsafe developed by the Ancient Ones, inserted into surviving databases of the previous cycle, and designed to appear when their invasion begins. It is portrayed as an ultimate weapon against them, but in fact, its true purpose is much more sinister. It is a galactic kill switch, designed to fire a massive pulse through all active relays, shattering all resistance against them. We do not know more, due to us needing to flee the galaxy during each cycle, however, the Crucible's power is absolute. It has been successfully used nearly thirty times since our cycle has ended, and it has won the war every time. Do not build it!_

Why should we believe you? You killed billions of us, and your re-awakening of the T'leth caused an ecological disaster our world still has not recovered from!

_You will do this, or when the ancient ones come, you will be destroyed, like we did, and the cycle will continue. We killed trillions, true, but we did so to save trillions more! When your kind destroy the dark ones, you save the galaxy from an even greater threat than we ever were!_

So the end justifies the means for you? Is that your excuse for enslaving your own race and destroying countless others?

_Yes. I know full well what I did, and I am not saying that I did the right thing. However, I did what needed to be done, and that justifies itself. Heed my warning, or you will lose everything. Goodbye, New Ones, you must heed my warning, and act on them. I will fade away now, to join my people in the Afterlife._

The Overlord's presence faded from Kaidan's mind. He realized that he was squeezing his eyes shut, and was holding his head in his hands.

"Come in Agent Alenko! What's your status? Please respond." The transmission was a welcome relief to psionic communication.

"This is Alenko. What just happened?" He replied.

"There was a massive shipwide psionic pulse, registered as a... Class 30."

"It was the Overlord's final message for us."

"What was it?"

"To put it bluntly, the First Alien War was an attempt by them to uplift us in order to fight some ancient enemy of theirs. This enemy will make its appearance soon, and this ship will help us fight them."

"What is on the ship?"

"Its a library, containing genetic info and technology of every single goddamn race that the Ethereals conquered. Likely that there are live specimens as well. This is a technological gold mine!"

"Dear god... Miranda's gonna be happy to get her hands on this."

"You can say that again!" Kaidan said, before cutting the comm and proceeding deeper into the ship.

* * *

Jack Harper read the report with wide eyes. This ship could catapult humanity forward several thousand years! Miranda Lawson walked up to him, a smile plastered on her normally impassive face.

"Do you know what this means for us?" She asked.

"Yes. You are in charge of investigating the contents of this ship. We will be moving it to the Luna facility for examination. Your priorities are military tech and combat gene mods for humanity and its allies." Jack replied.

"Good. I look forward to it. What do we tell the council?" Miranda asked.

"Create a vid of us fusion lancing this ship. We can't let them get wind of this, or they'll get their damn blue paws all over tech that they cannot have. Send the vid to Tevos when this is done, tell her that it belonged to a group of Overlord loyalists, and had to be destroyed."

"Yes Sir." Miranda said, before hurrying out of the room. A few seconds later, Jack received a message from the Asari councilor. 'Speak of the Devil' Harper thought, as he opened it. It was short and simple. 'What have you found?'

Jack began to type up his response, sticking to the cover story.

* * *

Councilor Tevos waited anxiously for the Human's report. The message that came in a short while ago told her that a formal report would be sent soon, and she wanted, no needed to see the evidence for herself. She needed to see that Tarak's spirit was finally at rest.

Her omni-tool pinged, and she snapped all attention to it. It was the human report, with a small video attached showing THAT ship being shattered to pieces after a short exchange of fire with the human dreadnought. She then read the report underneath it.

Report on Operation Librarian, compiled by Director Jack Harper.

When we arrived in system, the ship appeared to be derelict. After deploying data mining programs into the ship's computer systems, we began psionic scanning. However, psionic scanning seemed to activate the ship, causing it to open fire. The ship was destroyed by a shot from the main fusion lance after a brief exchange of fire, confirming human technological superiority over the Overlord's forces. The alien ship was destroyed before the data mine could be completed. Preliminary analysis of what data could be recovered, however, revealed something disturbing. The Ethereals were on the run from a much more powerful race, that they only knew as the Ancient Ones. According to data recovered, the Ancient Ones were the builders of the mass relays and the Citadel, which ensured that all races followed the same technological path, making it easier to kill them. We do not know the motivation behind this. The Ethereals had apparently been wandering the stars for millions of years, and have watched countless races be wiped out by the Ancient Ones. This would mean that the last race to fall would have been the Protheans. Finally, and most disturbing of all, was the fact that the Ancient Ones' invasion was almost due to start again. As such, I recommend warning the Council to begin evacuation of the Citadel, or at least move the seat of government. Finally, the last piece of information recovered was perhaps the most chilling of all. There is a device created by the Ancient Ones known as the Crucible. From what we know, it is a galaxy-wide kill switch, disguised as an ultimate weapon.

The Ancient Ones' plan could be described as the following: A new race develops, and reaches a space traveling stage. Many races would die at this stage, however, others would discover mass effect tech. This tech allows them to use FTL, albeit a slow version of it. Then, they discover Mass Relays, which were moved into their systems by the Ancient Ones after the last cycle had ended. They structure their society based on the Mass Relays, and eventually discover the Citadel. Once there, they meet with other races, and create a new government centered at the Citadel. They then stagnate for thousands of years, with no real advancement going on. Then, the Ancient Ones invade. The Citadel is, in reality, a giant mass relay. It links directly to wherever the Ancient Ones are located, and activates when the cycle begins. The Ancient Ones pour through, and the Citadel, along with the galactic government, falls. The races of the galaxy then discover a device called the Crucible. and devote immense wartime resources to its construction, diverting them away from worlds that then fall. Finally, the Crucible is ready, and the fleets of the Galaxy make one last push to activate it at the Citadel, while the Ancient Ones play the part, diverting forces to defend it. If the attacking races all die attempting to fire the Crucible, then the battle is over, with galactic armed forces being eliminated or crippled. Should the race succeed in firing the Crucible, a massive pulse is sent out, somehow disabling all forms of resistance. My guess is some kind of Element Zero neutralization field, which would disable all of the Ancient Ones' enemies, while the Ancient Ones are somehow protected. Finally, all evidence of the Ancient Ones is removed by their servants, the Keepers, and the Cycle repeats again.

As such, I recommend an immediate increase in military production, research of alternatives to element zero, and relocation of the Council, as well as, preferably, a full evacuation of the Citadel. Extermination of all Keepers is also recommended. Due to this threat, the Terran Alliance will be making Zrbite available to the council. Use it wisely.

End Report.

For Councilor Tevos' eyes only: We know about the Prothean Cache.

Tevos' eyes widened as she read the report. After finishing, she called an emergency meeting of all Citadel races. This data needed to be made public. The fate of the Galaxy depended on it.

* * *

**May 27th, 2157**

**TAS Apex, Luna Base**

"Is the ship secured?" Jack Harper asked Eva Core.

"Yes it is. We brought it in under cloak. Nobody will know it was here." Eva replied.

"Good. Miranda, Ryan, you may begin work on the Library. Remember that priorities are on combat grade gene mods, weaponry, and other military tech. Anything civilian is low priority unless it benefits the military. The Ancient Ones are coming, and we need to be ready.

"Yes Sir." Ryan Williams and Miranda Lawson replied simultaneously. before leaving the room, ready to brief science and engineering teams. Jack Harper sighed, before pouring himself a glass of Whiskey.

* * *

**A/N- And the mysterious Library is revealed. Next chapter may be another UFOpaedia type thing, detailing science projects from the alien craft.**


	10. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7- ****Preparations**

* * *

**May 29th, 2157**

**Citadel**

Councilor Tevos looked over the assembled dignitaries, from all council races. The Volus, Batarian, Elcor, and Hanar representatives were all there. Dalatrass Verlin stood beside her. Tevos felt a pang

"Welcome, everyone. I am sure that you are wondering why I called you all here today. Today, we are here to discuss a matter of galactic security. Human intelligence has recently discovered a grave threat to all life, and-" Tevos was cut off by the Elcor.

"Distrustfully: Why should we believe anything a human has to say. It could be falsified."

"I understand your concern, but the evidence I have is proof enough." Tevos replied.

"What is this *wheeze* threat to all *wheeze* life?" Din Korlack, the Volus ambassador asked.

"According to what we have received, the Galaxy is cleansed of all advanced life every 50,000 years by a race of sentient machines. We believe that this race of machines wiped out the protheans, before erasing all evidence of their existence. However, that is not all. Human reports claim that we have a century at most to prepare for this. The cycle is about to begin anew."

"Should This One be presented with sufficient evidence, This One's people will be honored to stand besides your people and fight those that killed the Enkindlers." The Hanar ambassador said.

"Bah! How could you *wheeze* believe that Tevos? I thought that *wheeze* you were smart enough not to be *wheeze* fooled by such a *wheeze* ridiculous ploy!" Korlack said.

"Agreeably: This is obviously a fabrication. What evidence do you have of this?"

"Yes, what is your evidence?" The Batarian ambassador asked.

"I have this." Tevos said, pulling up the detailed information that the humans had sent her.

"Even if this were *wheeze* real, what incentive do we have to *wheeze* co-operate with you?"

"This one sees your evidence, and finds it sufficient. This One's people will be honored to stand beside you."

"What do you want, Korlack?" Verlin asked, exasperatedly.

"You know full well what I *wheeze* want! A seat on the *wheeze* council, so my people can finally get what they *wheeze* deserve! If you do this, then the *wheeze* Vol clan will be happy to *wheeze* assist you, but until *wheeze* then, you will get *wheeze* nothing!"

"Demanding: Yes. I agree with the Volus. My people wish to have a seat on the council."

"This One would wish to ask for a seat as well, as a compensation for This One's peoples' willing aid."

"The Batarian people would also wish for a seat on the council, as is our due."

Tevos' mind was racing. "Verlin and I would like to discuss this in private. Please wait here while we come to an agreement." She said, before leaving the room, Verlin trailing behind her. As soon as the door closed behind her, Tevos turned to her salarian counterpart, and asked a simple question.

"What do we do?"

"I don't think that we have a choice. If the Ancient Ones come now, or in a few years, we need to be united in order to even stand a chance. We might as well grant them their requests, as the alternative is a grave in deep space." Verlin replied.

"Are you sure about this? This would disrupt the galactic status quo that we have spent centuries creating!"

"If we don't, there won't be a status quo left to disrupt!"

"Very well. They will get their council seat. Which brings me to the next point. The Treaty of Farixen."

"Useless. We do not need limits on dreadnoughts when we could be in a war of extinction."

"My thoughts exactly. We will abolish the treaty."

"Good. Now let us break the news." The two councilors strode back in.

"We are willing to grant the Volus, Elcor, and Hanar peoples their seat on the council. We are also willing to give the Batarians their seat, on one condition." Tevos said.

"And what is that condition?" The batarian ambassador replied.

"All slaves are to be repatriated with their respective peoples in a gesture of co-operation. The Batarian slave trade is to be abolished as well. Should any slaver raids be conducted in council territory, we will respond with military force. Do you agree to this condition?" Tevos asked, praying to Athame that the batarian would see reason.

"Absolutely not! The Slave trade is an inextricable part of our culture and economy! Destroying it would bring us to ruin!"

"Then you will not be given your council seat."

"Our race will not destroy our culture for your convenience, nor will we settle for anything less than a council seat!"

"Ambassador! Know your place!" Verlin snapped, quite out of character.

"I know my place! It is not with this council. Goodbye!" The batarian stormed out of the room.

"Well. That *wheeze* could have gone *wheeze* better." Din Korlack said.

"Happily: We accept your offer of a council seat. The Elcor people pledge their support to your cause."

"As do the Hanar. This One's people will be eager to avenge the Enkindlers."

"The Vol Clan stand *wheeze* ready to assist, however *wheeze* the Treaty of Farixen prevents *wheeze* us from reaching our full military potential."

"Do not worry. The Treaty of Farixen no longer stands, due to the Turians no longer being a part of this council." Tevos said, inwardly adding 'nor do they have any dreadnoughts left, for that matter'.

"Very well. Now that *wheeze* that is all settled, what do we *wheeze* know about these *wheeze* Ancient Ones? How do they *wheeze* attack us? Do you *wheeze* know?"

"Yes." Verlin answered. "The Citadel is, in fact, a giant Mass Relay, through which the Ancient Ones attack every 50,000 years. This allows them to destroy the galactic government, and assume direct control of the relay network."

"How has this not been *wheeze* discovered?" Din asked.

"The Keepers prevent the citadel's residents from discovering this. They are the Ancient Ones' creations."

"Questioningly: What do we do?"

"Simple. We evacuate the Citadel." Verlin said.

"WHAT?" Everyone in the room, excluding Tevos, gasped.

"The Asari republics are more than happy to provide a replacement world." Tevos said.

"But what of all the *wheeze* people here? What do *wheeze* they do?"

"They can stay here. All that I am saying is that we, the Council, should leave the Citadel." Tevos said.

"Very *wheeze* well."

"If that is all, this council is adjourned." Tevos said. The newly made councilors left the room, eager to break the news.

"Verlin, how will we prepare? The data sent to us shows the Ancient Ones are too advanced for us to fight." Tevos asked.

"Salarian research teams have began testing of a scaled up version of a human laser weapon for our starships. Power is not an issue, but heat dissipation is. In addition, one of our scientists has come up with something that he calls a 'Recursive Barrier', which could revolutionize kinetic barrier tech. What of the Asari?"

"I will consult with the Matriarchs. We will decide our plan of action." Tevos said, before leaving.

* * *

**May 30th, 2157**

**TAS Apex, Situation Room  
**

"Hello, Commander." The darkened face of the council representative spread across the screen.

"Likewise, councilor." Jack Harper replied.

"The information that you have sent us was... disturbing, to say the least. I trust that the Library has been secured?"

"It has."

"Good. Due to the threat posed by the Ancient Ones, we are willing to restart a 'Blank Check' protocol with XCOM. All funds you request will be granted. At the end of every month, we will review your expenditure, and judge if you should continue to be funded. In addition, military production has been scaled up, with emphasis on starship construction. We wish your research division to begin work on improvements for our fleet, although, you are likely to already be doing just that."

"We are. The Library is a gold mine of technology. A report on our initial findings will be available shortly."

"Good. There are several other requests that we would like to make. First is that you attempt to locate the Ancient Ones' location in Dark Space. Do not alert them if at all possible."

"I will ready dimensional probes for the task."

"Second is that you do not proceed with revival of any species within the Library. We cannot afford the increase in population that is sure to follow. This order may change based on your report on your findings."

"Yes, Councilor."

"Finally, I want you to assess the possibility of our assimilation of the Citadel races into our own government."

"Yes Councilor. Anything else?"

"No. Vigilo Confido."

"Vigilo Confido." The comm channel closed.

* * *

**June 2nd, 2157**

**Temple of Athame, Thessia**

Councilor Tevos paced inside the secret complex of the Temple of Athame. Two asari commandos stood guard near the exit.

"Councilor, we have finished with the beacon." Matriarch Silayna said, exiting the room.

"And? Was there any data on the Ancient Ones?"

"Yes. The human intelligence was correct."

"Any tech that we could use to fight them?"

"There is one. It is called the Crucible, and it is a superweapon designed to kill the Reapers, which is what the Protheans called the Ancient ones."

"No. Human intel says that the Crucible is another reaper trap. Anything else?"

"Aside from a few weapons, no. However, the visions are random, and not easily controlled. There could be something in there that we could use, but we just have not found it."

Tevos' reply was cut short, as the beacon activated again.

* * *

Kelly Chambers shadowed the Asari councilor, listening in on her conversation. She already had information that, if made public, could start a war. However, she was curious about the beacon, which stood behind the councilor. She gave it a quick psionic scan. Then, things went south. Fast.

The beacon activated, and a wave of psionic energy flowed towards her. Startled, Kelly let her mimetic skin cloak fall, leaving her in full view of the asari in the room. She ignored them, more keen on manipulating the psi-energy moving towards her. She realized that it was an information packet, designed to transmit directly into the user's mind, similar to an Ethereal Psi-nexus. She plunged her mind into the datastream, and it organized itself into something similar to a database. She could read through it, understand everything that the Protheans had left for the Asari! It was so easy to understand! How could the asari have trouble finding a simple weapon blueprint? There were hundreds in there, designed against the Ancient Ones, but never used. Ferrofluid cannons, Gamma lasers, particle beams, it was all there!

Her search was cut short by something pulling her out, forcefully. She barely managed to escape with her mind intact. Opening her eyes, the first thing she saw was an enraged councilor, her eyes glowing black. A fist slammed into her head, and a forceful mind meld began. In her mentally weakened state, Kelly could not resist for long.

The asari read through her head, finding what she had seen in the Beacon. Shock emanated from her mental presence. Then, Kelly pushed her out, having regained her strength. Opening her eyes once more, she saw two commandos, their rifles pointed at her. Kelly smirked. This would be easy.

A psionic shockwave pushed the asari back. A smokescreen filled the room, as a Xarquid based gene mod went to work.

* * *

A cry from one of the commandos indicated that the human infiltrator had got to her. Moments later, the second one went down as well. An electric buzz filled the air, and Matriarch Silayna fell. Then, the human came for Tevos. She was sent flying, slamming into the wall next to the beacon. She looked up, seeing the smokescreen dissipate. One of the commandos was frozen in a block of ice, while the other lay on the ground, out cold from a physical blow. Silayna's twitching form lay in the middle of the room, while the human responsible walked towards the stricken councilor.

"Amateurs." She said, before delivering an electric shock based sedative.

* * *

**June 3rd, 2157**

**STG Laboratory, Sur'Kesh**

Mordin Solus hummed a short tune as he readied the experimental laser rifle for a test shot. He was the leader of a small team dedicated to research of human technology. They had already built their first laser rifle, based off of human designs available on the public market. Unlike the human gun, which was silver-white and blocky, a red crystal running along it lengthwise, heat sinks built into the sides, the Salarian one was matte black, with no visible heat sink or crystal, and a much smoother, curved look. It was still a prototype, though, which was evidenced as it exploded in the test cradle, a laser beam burning the Krogan shaped target to a pile of ash. It also burned the back wall, necessitating yet another repair job from the team's engineers. The Salarian laser was powerful, much more so than the human one, but its self destructive tendencies made said power irrelevant. Mordin took out his datapad and wrote: "Test number 3. Failure. Rifle self destructed after firing single shot. Likely flaw with heat sink. Or laser simply too powerful. Unknown. Not like GARDIAN laser, where all is simple."

Reading over his report, Mordin had yet another idea. Human power supplies could eliminate problems with hand-held GARDIAN laser. He needed to try it later, but first, he had to go eat. He left the room. A human infiltrator walked over to the destroyed laser, cloaked. Scanning it, he identified the flaws. An underpowered heat sink, designed for mass effect based weapons, was the main flaw, with others being the use of low melting point plastics in its construction. He chuckled, mentally.

Amateurs.

He looked over the other projects in the STG lab, identifying which were promising, and which were useless, or doomed to fail. Most fell into the last category, although a few he labeled promising. One was a design for a new form of spy drone, one which could actually enter human space if a sensors officer was lazy. Fortunately for humanity, Cyberdiscs were rarely so. Scanning the blueprint, he sent it to XCOM command. With human tech, these could replace the existing dimensional probes as espionage drones.

* * *

**June 3rd, 2157**

**Citadel**

The Cyberdisc flew towards a Keeper in the Presidium tower under an elerium cloak. The Keeper was blind, a simple tool. The disc joined neatly with the Keeper, entering the hidden citadel networks. It was searching for one thing. The end destination of the Citadel relay. The disc searched for a long period of time, before it finally found it.

Of course, it was not the area the Ancient Ones were in. It was a small mass relay, linking directly to the Citadel. The relay itself was dormant, lying in Dark Space. The Ancient Ones were likely several light years away, or even several relay jumps out. Continuing the search, the Cyberdisc was stopped in its tracks. It had found them, and it was not good. There was a small star system in Dark Space. Said system contained the Ancient Ones. It also contained a Dyson Sphere, sustaining the machines through an artificially stabilized sun. A shell, hundreds of kilometers thick, surrounded said sun, containing furnaces and strange bio-conversion units dedicated to the production of more machines. Inside the sphere, there was a strange entity. It slept, but even in the Citadel, light years away, the lone Cyberdisc was in awe of its power. The disc disconnected before the Entity discovered its presence. It had a report to make. XCOM HQ would not be pleased.

* * *

**July 6th, 2157**

**Dis System**

Kahairal Balak strode along the inside of the ancient ship. The dead Ancient One lay in space, inert. The Batarian government had ordered his troops to guard the science team studying the Leviathan of Dis, and he had obliged.

A soft whispering in his head sounded, again. The Leviathan was dead, but it was still awake. Balak smiled as he listened to it whisper into his mind, crooning softly to him, promising him power, riches, slaves! The scientists could feel it too, as could his soldiers. The Leviathan may have died, but its legacy would live on. Balak was its servant, and he was happy to carry out his will.

"Is the cargo loaded?" Balak asked one of his subordinates.

"Yes sir. The Nanites are inside the cargo containers. The Leviathan shall live on, and we are its legacy." The batarian said.

"Good. Now, I must confer with it. Begone!" Balak ordered.

"Yes sir." The batarian exited the room.

Balak listened for the Leviathan's voice. It came to him, powerful and beautiful.

**YOU HAVE DONE WELL. SOON, ALL OF THE HEGEMONY WILL KNOW OUR POWER, AND SOON, YOUR KIND WILL RULE THIS GALAXY**

"Yes, master. Your will shall be obeyed." Balak answered it. The voice stopped speaking, returning to its whispers. Soon, the Batarians would rule the galaxy in the stead of their machine masters.

* * *

**September 18th, 2158**

**Mars Orbital Shipyards**

David Anderson looked down at his new ship. The TAS Normandy had just begun construction. The metal frame barely looked like the final shape that the proud frigate, the first of its class, would eventually take. It was a stealth frigate, armed with a powerful fusion lance, capable of wiping an Asari dreadnought clean off the map. It carried a powerful Elerium cloak, designed to hide the ship for days on end, as well as a short range jump-drive, modeled after an infantry portable teleporter. The ship was designed to be fast, agile, and capable of dealing out significant damage. It was meant to run circles around the Ancient Ones that the Ethereal codex depicted, all while blowing holes in them. The ship was just over 1.2 km in length, and carried a wing of four Firestorm fighters, as well as a Ranger class stealth dropship. It was made for covert, behind-the-lines operations, and according to simulations, could do said operations perfectly. Anderson smiled as the first engine nacelle frame finished assembly.

* * *

**UFOpaedia Entry: Normandy Class Frigate-** Armament- 1 axial fusion lance, 1 experimental Ferrofluid Cannon, 2 3 man Class 40 Psi-amp, 10 Plasma cannons, 16 Disruptor cannons. Compliment- 4 Firestorm fighters, 1 Ranger Stealth dropship. 1 vehicle bay. Dimensions- Length- 1.2 km. Width- 610 meters, Height- 320 meters. Description- The Normandy class is a new Stealth frigate developed by the Terran Alliance. It is designed for rapid strikes into enemy territory, disappearing before enemy ships can respond. Its Elerium stealth drive can run for days at a time, and the ship is capable of short range teleportation in order to avoid enemy fire. The ship's disruptor shields are at least at cruiser strength, allowing for the ship to take a beating that belies its small size. This is all possible due to its oversized elerium core, which is almost as big as that of a Gladiator class battleship. The first ship of its class has been assigned to the newly promoted Captain David Anderson.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry for the wait in between chapters. **

**With regards for the Ethereal Codex, a Reaper cyber-attack has attempted to wipe all data. Reconstruction is in progress.**


	11. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8- Preparations: Part 2**

**October 2nd, 2158**

**Psi-Tophet System, 2181 Despoina Orbit, TAS Apex**

* * *

The TAS Apex exited the dimensional rift. The ship was investigating the set of co-ordinates found onboard the Library, indicating the location of another survivor species. The Apex entered orbit around the planet, and began scanning. Soon, it found something.

"Commander, we have found something." Eva Core said.

"What is it?" Jack Harper answered.

"It seems to be some sort of underwater ship graveyard, with some of the ships in there not matching any known profiles. We can get a Kraken sub down there in an hour."

"Do it. Have a team of Aquanauts assembled at once."

"Yes Sir." Eva sent out the message, and the Apex flew towards the planet, approaching Kraken drop altitude.

* * *

Commander Isaac DeSoto waited inside the troop compartment of the Kraken Orbital Drop Submarine Transport. His squad waited beside him.

"Prepare for orbital insertion." Came the voice of the VI inside the vessel. Isaac made sure that he was strapped in tightly, before the sub dropped. It fell several kilometers, before there was a bright flash of light.

"What was that?" One of the squad members asked.

"Warning. Element Zero cores have been rendered inert. Elerium backup systems engaged." The VI said.

The rest of the drop went relatively uneventfully, although the lack of Eezo fields made the landing much more uncomfortable. Isaac was jerked against his restraints as the sub hit water. The vessel dove down, accelerating towards the underwater graveyard. The submarine settled on the sea floor, 3.2 kilometers below the surface. The airlock door opened, and the squad moved in, double checking to see if their suits were sealed. Accompanying the squad were two Barracuda SHIVs, equipped with displacer engines and powerful sonic cannons.

"What's our mission?" Isaac asked over the comm.

"We've set down at the edge of a deep sea trench, and the Kraken's too big to enter it. Your orders are to enter the trench, and see what's down there. All that we know is that there is something there. That trench is not natural. Command out." Came the response.

"You all heard that?" asked Isaac.

"Yes Sir!" Came the chorus. Then, the airlock opened, and water flooded into the chamber. Activating their displacement packs, the Aquanaut team moved out of the submarine, the SHIVs following close behind. Isaac looked over the weaponry his squad carried. Most of them had Sonic assault rifles, as well as the standard pistol sidearms. A few carried Disruptor Pulse launchers, in addition to Sonic LMGs, and one carried a Thermal Shock launcher for stun purposes. Looking around, Isaac saw the silhouette of a massive starship in the distance. Looking closely, he saw that it matched the profile of an Ancient One destroyer. It now lay inert at the bottom of the planet's massive ocean.

Slowly jetting towards the edge of the circular trench, the squad suddenly heard something. It was like the song of a whale, albeit much louder, and more aggressive sounding. Raising their weapons, they looked over the trench's edge. There was nothing. The pit continued down, into inky blackness. Isaac took a deep breath, and jumped down into the pit, weapon ready. His squad followed, SHIVs leading the way. Aquanaut armor was rated for up to 10 kilometers under, so depth would likely not be an issue. The noise came again, louder this time. The squad raised their weapons. Something did not want them here.

The squad passed the four kilometer mark, still with no end in sight. Then, Isaac felt a presence probing his mind. It was Molecular Control. Unlike psionics, which mind controlled by directly hijacking the target's mind, Molecular Control used small psionic compulsions to re-arrange the brain of the target, converting them into a thrall. Thankfully, all XCOM personnel, and by extension, all humans, had gotten mods to protect against said manipulation at the end of the Second Alien War. The presence continued, building in power, but unable to overcome a brain designed against such abilities. The scream came again, louder this time, and sounding even more enraged.

Five kilometers down, and the squad began to see a light. Sonar scans indicated that the trench was nearing its end, opening up into a massive underwater cavern 200 meters below. Helmet lights illuminated a ledge down below. The squad touched down on it, SHIVs coming to a hover alongside them. Then, the scream came again, much louder, as if the source was right in front of them. It turned out that it was. What the squad had at first assumed to be a pockmarked wall suddenly began to move up, bringing an eye cluster and a set of tentacles into view. The massive creature towered over the humans, its size alone meant to intimidate and to convey a sense of insignificance to all who gazed upon it. It spoke, its mind's voice deep and echoing.

**You have breached the darkness. You are insignificant, unworthy of being in my presence, and yet you bear the Gift of the mind, at least as powerful as that of the Ethereals, who visited us previously. You seek aid against the Harvesters, just as they did. You will not receive it. You think yourselves the apex race of your cycle, superior technologically in every aspect. You do not comprehend the true meaning of apex. The galaxy does not bend to your every whim. You are nothing when compared to us at the height of our power. Speak, and be in awe.**

"So. We came down here for a massive space squid with a superiority complex? Face it, your time is over. The Ancient Ones destroyed you, and all that is left is hiding down here rather than taking the fight to them! No wonder the Ethereals described you as a bunch of cowards!" Isaac mentally screamed back.

**Fool. You cannot possibly think that we are all that is left of our race! We number legion, and soon we will have the strength once more to break the cycle and return our creations to their place as our tools.**

"Your creations? You mean that you CREATED the Ancient Ones?" Isaac said.

**When we ruled the galaxy, our subject races would construct synthetics to aid them in their toil. Their creations then eclipsed them, and they were destroyed. A dead race brings no tribute, so we created our own synthetic to prevent synthetics from killing organics. It rebelled.**

"You BIG, STUPID, SPACE SQUIDS! You saw that synthetics were killing organics, so you created your own? What kind of twisted logic is that?"

**When the galaxy bends to your every whim, when you have the power to consign entire races to destruction at a moment's notice, you are more than capable of dealing with a small AI.**

"And yet, here you are. At the bottom of the ocean on some backwater world, afraid to even come out of this little pit."

**Soon, we will once again rule this galaxy. Any race that is not useful will be destroyed to make way for new servants. We will return, and show this galaxy the true meaning of Apex. Our creations will return to us, or be destroyed. We will create a new tool in their place.**

"If that is the logic behind your race's actions, I am surprised you even dragged your squid asses off world without cracking your planet somehow!"

**How do you know of the greatest tragedy to befall our race? You are still infants on the galactic scale!**

"Lucky guess. Now you can take that offer of slavery and shove it up your ass, or face our fleets. We are now the apex race of this galaxy, and you fossils should just accept this and die quietly like you should have done millions of years ago!" Isaac screamed, anger at the stupid space squid in front of him. With luck, their offensive would fall apart as soon as it started when all their ships somehow ram each other.

**You dare! Your race will be destroyed, and we will celebrate when your world burns.**

"Then destroy this!" Isaac screamed, releasing the PWT torpedo that he had been priming. It slammed into the creature's eye cluster, detonating in a cloud of black blood and shredded flesh.

"Move! Xarquid tactics! Assume psionic! Aim for the eyes!" Isaac screamed as his squad launched themselves into the cavern below. His magnetic ion armor accelerated him down past two more creatures that were rising up to investigate their comrade. One took a Disruptor Pulse torpedo to the face, while the other was quickly brought down by sonic fire. Scanners indicated twenty four more lifesigns in the cavern, every one matching a Leviathan, as the creature had been designated by the VI system. PWT and sonic fire filled the chamber, as the Leviathans struggled to find out what was happening. Only one of them had managed to pick up one of their weapons, and by then it was far too late. Several PWTs struck it, causing it to spin out of control, slowly floating away, dead and gone. The Leviathan outpost in the Milky Way had been destroyed.

"Come in command. We have encountered and eliminated an outpost of a hostile alien species. What are our orders?" Isaac said into the hyperwave comm built into his armor.

"Acknowledged. Return to the Kraken. A science team will be here shortly." Came the reply. Isaac complied. The Kraken took off from the ocean floor, flying up out of the water, its elerium engines burning it into orbit, where it re-entered the Apex's hangar.

* * *

**2 Days Later, TAS Apex Situation Room**

"A galaxy wide molecular control network? I have seen some amazing tech in my day, but that is impossible!" Jack Harper said, pacing the room.

"I assure you that I have proof of said network, as well as a working piece of it. Said technology is, of course, properly shielded with MC Disruptors." Miranda Lawson replied.

"What about autopsies? Any genetic material that strikes you as suitable for gene mods?" Harper asked.

"Yes. The Leviathans had to survive with almost no technology aside from the MC controllers that we have recovered. Anything more would have likely given them away. However, what makes this race so fascinating is both their extensive biotic ability and their ability to use said biotics to literally render any element zero around them temporarily inert! With this, we could not only create a far more efficient biotic implantation method than we have managed to piece together from the Asari scans we have gotten, but we would also be put on a fast track to becoming the most powerful biotics in the galaxy! Finally, cell analysis shows a method that we can use to enhance our lifespan augmentations, letting us live almost, if not longer than, asari! If this is what we managed to obtain from a small scouting outpost, imagine what we could find on one of their warships!" Miranda explained.

"Good. Biotics mods are a priority. However, the lifespan mods may be... problematic. Already we are living far longer than evolution intended, and increasing our lifespan even more would force us to enact birth control laws. Keep the lifespan under wraps, but go ahead with biotic implants. I want every XCOM soldier capable of Eezo neutralization in three years. In addition, I want you to assess the possibility of adapting the Leviathan MC devices to our psionic abilities, as Molecular Control is inferior to psionics on all fronts. Those devices could revolutionize psionics, allowing for psi-abilities to be used without a user in visual distance. Once that is done, resume work on the Library. It has been a year already, and you still have not given me a full report on its contents. I want that flaw rectified."

"Very well. The Library is problematic, due to the fact that there is too much information coming out of it to fully process. It seems that, once I finish typing up one section, the previous three are suddenly updated with new tech, causing me to go back and add more info. At this rate, it will not be done for a couple hundred years, but I will attempt to get it to you ASAP. Is there anything else?"

"No. Dismissed." Harper said, and the doctor left the room, heading to hangar bay 3, where a Leviathan corpse was being stored for autopsy.

Harper sighed, falling into his chair, exhausted. He lit a cigar, and turned to watch the planet below.

* * *

**November 8th, 2158**

**Thessia Orbital Shipyards, Complex D**

Councilor Tevos watched as the ship below continued to take form. The ARS Transcendant Justice was the first of its class, started soon after the anomalous incident in the Temple of Athame. Tevos' mind was still foggy from the incident. All that she remembered was discussing the Beacon with Matriarch Silayna, before the beacon spontaneously activated, as if sensing that its makers' killers were being discussed. The next thing Tevos knew, she was on the ground, with weapon and tech blueprints clear in her mind. The Transcendant Justice was the first of a new class of dreadnoughts being built with the newfound tech. It was armed with a powerful central Ferrofluid cannon, or a Thanix cannon as the Asari had named it. New Silaris armor based off of prothean information had been installed as well. Finally, Particle beams and Gamma ray GARDIAN arrays formed its secondary and tertiary armaments. This ship was the epitome of pure mass effect based technology, designed to be a match for even the Ancient Ones. Six more ships of this class were slated to begin production by the end of the decade. In addition, many of the eleven thousand existing Asari warships were scheduled for refits, their old slugthrower cannons replaced with Thanix guns. The Asari would be ready for the arrival.

* * *

**November 10th, 2158**

**Sur'Kesh Orbit, SSV Mannovai Bridge**

"3... 2... 1... FIRE!" Came the command. Dr. Mordin Solus looked out of the dreadnought's viewscreen as the experimental laser weapon fired. Essentially a scaled up Human laser rifle, the SSV Mannovai was equipped with a prototype human laser cannon. A loud hum filled the bridge, before a bright red laser streaked across space, impacting the target asteroid, slagging it into a blob of molten lava. Two of the ship's axial heatsinks glowed a bright yellow, the other two being a darker shade of orange. Coolant vented, creating a cloud of gas as supercooled nitrogen met superheated heatsink. Then, ten seconds later, the gun was ready to fire again.

"3... 2... 1... FIRE!" Came the command again, and the laser fired, this time continuing to shoot for almost twice as long. Then, the automatic heatsink regulator shut the cannon down, forcing it to go into a cooldown cycle.

'Test only partially successful. Power supply not an issue, but heat management is. Suggest adding additional heatsinks. Or adding multiple pulse firing barrels. Either one may work. Multiple barrels created effective heavy laser weapon for ground troops. Reduced accuracy due to gyro recoil, but allowed for effective heat management without exploding the gun. Multiple heatsinks may prove useful for ground rifles, interesting hypothesis. Conclusion: Attempt to install multiple heatsinks on rifle prototype 10G. Also stop using black plastic. Absorbs heat far too fast, melts quickly. Cleaning crews tired of requiring to use acid to melt plastic lumps on floor. Finally, install better cameras in labs, discover just who is leaving modified human songs on my desk. Congratulate him. 'Scientist Salarian' quite catchy. Enjoy singing in my free time. The cat pictures, not so much.' Mordin wrote on his personal datapad, before looking up, just in time to see another test shot.

"3... 2... 1... FIRE!"

* * *

**December 1st, 2158**

**Mars Orbital Shipyards, Refit Block L3**

Daro'Xen vas Moreh looked out at the massive form of the Rayya, which was being refitted in the human drydock. After discovering the Ancient Ones' Dyson Sphere, XCOM scientists worked to devise a weapon capable of breaching said sphere. This was their result. The Artillery Ship class was designed for long range bombardment of large, static targets. Geth, Quarian, and even the few surviving Turian dreadnoughts were being refitted into said ships. The first Artillery Ship ever made was the Iron Resolve, one of two remaining turian dreadnoughts, pulled from the Krogan DMZ. An artillery ship's main armament was a massive axial Elerium/Mass effect hybrid propulsion cannon, or the EMHPC. Said cannon fired thirty kilogram slugs at nearly 30% light speed, combining mass effect acceleration with elerium gravity propulsion. However, a thirty kilo tungsten slug could not punch through the Dyson Sphere's skin, although it could annihilate any warship. Thus, every single slug was custom built to the exact specifications of the human science team. Every slug contained approximately 3 kilograms of antimatter, kept in place by an Elerium gravity field. A warp field generator allowed the slug to shred through kinetic barriers, before impacting the target. The resulting weapon could destroy the citadel, or a mass relay, in a single shot. Against a dyson sphere, it would be one of only two weapons in the human arsenal capable of inflicting significant damage on the sphere, the other being an Apex Class dreadnought's fusion lance.

Xen continued to watch the former liveship being refitted. She would normally have been cooling her heels in some lab on newly reclaimed Rannoch, but she had received an invitation from Dr. Miranda Lawson to join XCOM's top science team. She had jumped at the offer, relishing a chance to work among people of intelligence comparable to her own, rather than the simpletons back at the Special Projects lab. Her omni-tool pinged. Dr. Lawson was almost ready. Xen hurried to a transport terminal, setting a destination, before jumping into a people tube. The doctor should not be kept waiting.

She arrived to find the doctor in the middle of an autopsy. The subject in question was a race that Xen had not seen before.

"Don't just stand there, grab a disruptor scalpel and get to work! We'll talk over the autopsy." Lawson said. As soon as the words left her mouth, Xen realized that she was excited for the first time in years. A broad smile stretched across her now unmasked face, and she got to work.

* * *

**Dr. Lawson Project Completion Reports**

Leviathan Autopsy- The autopsy of the race known as the leviathan placed the creature to be almost as old as an Ethereal war veteran. This age, however, was achieved naturally due to an extremely slow cell division rate, coupled with increased cell resilience. This allows for a possible augmentation centered on this feature, allowing for human lifespans to reach millennial lengths. However, due to issues with overpopulation, this has not been released to the public. A second feature was the prominent Eezo cores inside its body. This allowed me to create a similar design for human physiology, with mods designed for other races being in the final stages of development. Finally, an enhancement to our already potent Combat Vocal Cord modification is possible through analysis of this creature's vocational membrane. This could create a new organ designed for sonic attacks in the throat of the human, increasing the potency of this ability. On a more personal note, analysis of the creature's brain has shown that the part responsible for logic and 'Common sense' seems to be highly atrophied, suggesting that this creature is, in fact, a 'Big, Stupid, Cuttlefish.'

Gene Mods Created- Millennial Lifespan, HyperBiotic Cores, Banshee Sonics Amplifier.

Project: Locus- The analysis of the so cold Molecular Control Nexus has revealed that its most basic function is as an observation tool. We have taken it one step further. The Gollop Device, as I have called it, is a psionic conversion of this module. The Gollop Device is capable of being constructed in a much more compact grenade form, which would allow it to be placed almost anywhere. A psion connected to a specific device could then use it as a remote projector for his psionic abilities. A skilled psion could be kilometers away and still be capable of mind control from that distance using the device's matched pair. Thus, we can create 'Psi grenades' for use by our troops. We are also capable of pre-programming said grenades to auto mindfray or panic everyone in the vicinity.

Equipment Created- Psi-Grenade

* * *

UFOpaedia Entry- Kraken Class Hybrid Submarine- The Kraken is the successor of the Leviathan that was used to assault the T'Leth during the Second Alien War. The Kraken is armed with 2 PWT Tubes, as well as 4 heavy sonic cannons. It carries up to 2 squads, each composed of 20 soldiers, as well as up to 4 SHIVs. The Kraken was designed for deployment from low orbit, and is capable of orbital ascent due to its elerium thrusters. The Kraken is the main transport vehicle of the Aquanaut Corps.

Barracuda SHIV- The Barracuda SHIV is the successor of the older Displacer SHIV used during the second alien war. With additional armor and the addition of both a PWT Tube and a heavy sonic cannon, the Barracuda is a miniature tank, designed to act as both a scout and a support vehicle in aquatic combat. The Barracuda has very limited functionality outside of water, due to its weak treads and reliance on a magnetic displacement drive.

* * *

**A/N: Despite losing progress on it twice, as well as having small segments wiped multiple times today, this chapter is finally done. I was thinking of splitting the library chapter into small Progress Reports from Doctor Lawson, similar to the project completion reports and UFOpaedia entries above. What do you think?**


	12. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9- Blitz**

**July 8th, 2163**

**Asari Colony: Lusia**

* * *

Aliana T'lios looked up at the beautiful sky of the asari world, watching the meteor shower. It was a beautiful sight, streaks of light raining down upon the planet, bathing the small city in their light. Little did she know, her life was about to be changed forever. A loud roar indicated that a meteor was coming closer. Then, it slammed into the ground, in the middle of a pair of intersecting pathways. Looking down, she saw several curious asari approach it. Suddenly, a blackish gas sprayed out of the pod, all asari breathing it being knocked out, or worse. The pod's side doors opened, and several batarians in full combat armor jumped out, spraying bullets indiscriminately. One struck her salarian bondmate, his blood splashing out over her dress. She stood still, shell shocked, as the batarians gunned down civilians below her. One noticed her, and fired. The bullet slammed into her thigh, jolting her out of her stupor, flooring her on the balcony she was standing on, now covered in her bondmate's blood. Her tears now mixed with it. How could this have happened? Where was the military?

As if on cue, asari commandos entered the fray, firing their new ferrofluid rifles. Acting like water cutters, the rifles tore into batarian forces, killing some and wounding more. A batarian gunship screamed overhead, raking the area with weapon fire. Several commandos went down, while others managed to throw up barriers to block the bullets. The gas from the drop pod continued to expand, and Aliana swore that she could see some form of black sludge spreading slowly out of the bottom of the pod. That vision was confirmed as a commando stepped into said sludge, rebreather protecting her against the gas. She screamed as the liquid swarmed over her, as if it had a mind of its own. She was enveloped in it soon enough, and her struggles ceased shortly afterward. The sight was too much for her, and Aliana screamed. A batarian heard her, and the last thing she ever saw was the bright red glow of a laser sight in her eye.

* * *

Matriarch Seryna Ri'lisa looked out at the frantic scene on the bridge of the asari dreadnought ARS Perfect Union as the remaining asari fleet rallied against the batarian attackers. They had come out of nowhere, with no warning whatsoever, opening fire on the unprepared asari fleets, jamming all comms, preventing them from calling for help. There were only five refitted ships in the system, the rest of the three hundred asari ships not being fitted with the latest prothean based tech. The number of non-refitted craft was slowly dwindling, with at least a hundred of them being lost in the first half hour. The asari fleets were forced to retreat and regroup, giving the batarians the chance to release drop pods into the unprepared cities below. Now, the asari fleet had returned, ready to avenge those fallen in the batarian raid. The hum of the thanix cannon spooling up signaled the beginning of the asari opening volley. A column of bright blue streamed out of the main gun, slamming into one of the lead batarian vessels. Several more streaks signified the particle beams firing, each one carving into its designated target. The batarians returned fire, red thanix beams lancing out of their ships. Several asari vessels went down in bright flashes of light as their eezo cores exploded. The Perfect Union took several hits, none of them penetrating the ship's shields. The dreadnought's main cannon spoke again, spearing two batarian ships with a column of white hot metal. Slowly but surely, the asari began to retake the space above Lusia. Then, it all went awry. A massive black ship, at least two kilometers in length, emerged from the batarian ranks. It fired its main gun, destroying several asari vessels with a single hit. Several seconds later, it fired again. It expended its entire shot into a refitted frigate, barely dropping its shields. The batarians swarmed all over the stricken vessel, and it went down fast. The Perfect Union fired its main gun, scoring a direct hit on the massive ship. Its shields held, barely, before particle beams cut through the barrier, scarring its armor. One of its strange 'Tentacles' was cut off, the appendage slowly drifting away. The ship retreated, firing another shot, this time at the asari dreadnought. Alarms blared as shields dipped down fast, dropping from 60% to 23% in seconds, before the beam stopped, and the giant ship retreated. A communication came in from the surface, choppy and full of static.

"What are you... up there? Where... our warning? We've... heavy cas... enemy... repelled. Need... support... frigate in atmo. Help... Goddess, they're overwhelm-" The transmission cut off, the sound of gunfire and explosions replacing it. The batarian fleets were in full retreat, having taken heavy casualties. Seryna ordered several frigates into the atmosphere, ready to provide fire support for the ground troops. She prayed that it was not too late.

* * *

Commander Sarlia Lesha hunkered down behind the hastily assembled roadblock, batarian bullets flying above her. The roar of an asari frigate entering atmosphere was music to her ears, the ship taking a position above Monoi. Missiles lashed the batarian ground forces, while GARDIAN lasers wiped out a flight of gunships coming in for a strafing run. Several asari fighters soared above her, raking the area with missile and machine gun fire. A missile struck one, causing it to spiral out of control, slamming into the street several hundred meters in front of Lesha's position.

"Move! The pilot could still be alive!" She screamed, before vaulting over the cover, firing her gun as she went. She was using one of the new particle rifles issued to commandos, while her non commando companions fired Thanix rifles. The batarians returned fire, while a squad of them moved towards her. A black grenade was thrown, landing at the feet of an asari squad, exploding in a sea of black fluid. Several asari were struck by it, and immediately began to scream as the sludge wormed its way inside their mouth and nose. They collapsed, thrashing, before slowly going still. Lesha put several bullets in each of their heads. Anyone killed by the black liquid would soon rise as an abomination. She would deny them the chance to do so.

A loud scream signaled incoming Risen, as the abominations were called. One teleported in, crackling with biotic energy, its blackened skin glowing with cybernetics. Where the batarians had gotten such a horrible weapon, Sarlia could only guess. She fired a pulse at one of the Risen, only for the beam to be deflected with a biotic barrier. A machine gun turret opened up, lashing the ground with bullets, several Risen succumbing to the endless tide of metal pellets. Sarlia fired a long burst of particles at the risen in front of her, scoring a direct hit, removing its head with a lucky shot. The abomination collapsed, and the asari troops pushed on towards the downed fighter. Reaching it, Sarlia opened up the cockpit, and saw that the pilot inside was unconscious. Taking cover as batarian fire raked her position, she pulled the pilot out into safety. The roar of fighter engines came again, with the asari squadron coming in for another pass. Missiles lashed the batarian position, causing them to take cover. This gave Sarlia the opportunity to aim and toss a grenade, the explosion killing several of the four eyed invaders. Running over to their position, she saw that one of the Batarian soldiers had had his hardsuit ripped open, revealing unhealthily pale skin, covered in softly glowing cybernetics.

Two hundred meters ahead of the asari squad, there was a sea of slowly expanding black fluid. It was, slowly but surely, swallowing up the city.

"Attention all asari forces groundside. The planet has been declared a Class 3 hazard zone. Immediate evacuation is necessary. Please head to nearest evac points." Came the sudden order, followed by a set of points lighting up on Sarlia's HUD. The squad moved towards the nearest one. Once there, a shuttle took them off world, where they got their first good look at the city as a whole. Much of the center was now a lake of black fluid, with only the tallest buildings still standing. A cloud of smoke rose over the once proud city, as fires all over Monoi burned.

"Evacuation is complete. Orbital purge of hazard sites will now commence." Came the communication. Several seconds later, the first of a series of kinetic strikes slammed into the city, the shockwaves making the shuttle shake in the air. The few surviving skyscrapers fell as a mushroom cloud rose over the city. Several more strikes slammed into the city, proceeding to level it. One of the asari in the shuttle started to softly cry, as she watched her home city burn.

The bombardment of Monoi would continue for thirteen hours, with the other asari cities on the world being destroyed shortly afterward. The colony of Lusia, once home to 2.2 billion asari, now lay deserted, its cities reduced to craters and ash. The batarian attack had been repelled, but the result could hardly be called a victory. Lusia had been lost, not to the batarians, but to its own people. As the asari fleets left the burned world, they did so with one thought. They would make the Batarians pay, regardless of what the council thought. The people of Lusia will be avenged.

* * *

**2 weeks later**

**Human colony of Elysium**

Captain Sean Finn looked out of the bridge of the TAS Nimitz. The Victory class battleship formed the flagship of the Elysium defense fleet. Said fleet had been put on high alert ever since the Batarians began attacking asari space. Suddenly, sensors blared out a warning. Hundreds of Batarian warships exited FTL, likely having used the slow mode of FTL travel to arrive in system, the relay linking into it having been destroyed years ago. The human fleet rapidly formed a defensive screen around the colony, their hyperwave comms sending a warning down to the world below. The lead batarian ship hailed him.

"Puny Human. Your kind thinks that they can fight us? You have grown soft, dependent on your technological advantage! Now, we have the Leviathan, and we will destroy you!" Came the message. The batarian who said it had seen better days, as glowing cybernetics covered his skin, two of his eyes completely gone, replaced by cyber-optics, and a third eye being converted to cybernetics as Finn watched.

The batarian fleet parted, revealing a black ship, in the rough shape of a cuttlefish. It would have been massive, if compared to a council vessel. When compared to a human vessel, though, it barely qualified as a cruiser.

"Fear the Leviathan, for it is the vanguard of your destruction!" The batarian said.

"Lock weapons on the batarian cruiser. Destroy it." Finn said to his gunner. A few seconds later, the main fusion lance spooled up and fired, a streak of bright white light crossing the distance between the human and batarian fleets in a matter of nanoseconds. The 'Leviathan' exploded in a ball of nuclear fire, debris spreading out fast. It was the start of what would later be called the Great Elysium Turkey Shoot. The human ships surged forward, fusion lances blazing, disruptor beams raking through the void. Bright red ferrofluid fire came from the batarian fleet in response, splashing over the human disruptor shields.

Two hours later, the entire batarian fleet had been converted into scrap metal, the massive debris field spreading over thousands of kilometers. The only human casualties were a few lightly damaged frigates and many, many laughter related injuries, Captain Sean Finn among them.

* * *

**1 hour later, TAS Apex Situation Room**

Jack Harper looked over the report, worry clear on his face. Although the battle of Elysium had been considered a defeat, there was one disturbing point. The cruiser that the Batarians deployed matched the profile of an Ancient One cruiser. The implications of this were staggering. If the batarians had gotten their hands on an Ancient One, they could already be indoctrinated, which was verified by the extent of the cybernetic modifications exhibited by the batarian captain. Kar'Shan had likely fallen to the Ancient Ones already, and they were using the batarians as their puppets. It would explain the sudden offensive by their race, which normally was content to prey on terminus colonies. Now that they attacked human space though, the path was clear. A massive counter-attack was in order, with the human fifth fleet being readied to lead the charge. Harper knew its admiral. Stephen Hackett had distinguished himself in the turian war, and now was being pointed at another enemy. The Batarians, and their Ancient One masters, would know the might of the human race.

Sending the orders to the admiral, Harper sat down in the situation room chair, watching the screen, which showed the assembling fleets. He watched as the fifth fleet entered a dimensional gate, ready to take the fight to the enemy.

* * *

**Kar'Shan Orbit**

**July 23rd, 2163**

Matriarch Seryna looked out of the bridge window at the scene of battle before her. The batarian and asari fleets had been pounding each other for hours now, neither making significant headway. The batarians' advanced technology was mitigated by the even more advanced refitted warships that made up 10% of the asari fleet. However, neither side could break through.

The ship's main gun fired, slowly carving through a batarian dreadnought, only for a pair of cruisers to replace it as soon as it went down. How the batarians managed to make so many ships was beyond her, she was only there to destroy them, to avenge the lives lost at the battle of Lusia.

"Matriarch! Massive radiation spikes are being reported behind the batarian fleet!" Came the voice of a young sensors officer. Moments later, the bright lights of human dimension gates began to appear behind the batarian formation. A massive fleet poured through, weapons blazing. Disruptor beams and fusion lances sliced into the rear ranks of the batarian armada, while the psi-amps on the front of their warships glowed a bright purple, sending lances of psionic energy at their targets, shattering some of them, while causing massive rifts to appear in the place of others. Seryna looked at the scene in shock. The refitted asari vessels were nothing when compared to human might! She even saw a few Quarian and Geth vessels among their lines! In a few minutes, they had cut a sizable hole in the batarian fleet's ranks, taking some of the pressure off of the asari forces.

After an hour had passed, the batarians were all gone. They had not fled from their superior opponents, which Seryna found unusual.

"The lead human ship is hailing us. Patching them through." Came the voice of the ship's comms officer. True to her word, the human leader appeared over the holographic comm unit.

"Hello. I am admiral Stephen Hackett, and we are here due to a batarian attack on our colony of Elysium, as well as to investigate evidence of the Batarians being under Ancient One control. Scans of the planet's surface have indicated a near universal presence of a strange form of nanobot. Orbital bombardment is the most expedient solution, one that we shall commence. If you do not like watching planets burn, I suggest you leave the system." Came the voice of the human admiral.

"The nanovirus has infested Kar'shan? Then we will gladly assist you in bombarding the world, as the nanovirus seems to be designed to control organics. Ancient One origin is likely." Seryna replied, cutting the comm. The asari and human fleets took up positions around the batarian homeworld. Seryna looked down, and saw that the once blue oceans were now a dark grey, while the once green land was covered in a web of thick black tendrils. A dimension gate opened, and Seryna saw five ships exit. One was a Geth dreadnought, another was turian. The last three were Quarian liveships. The asari wondered what they were for. The ships answered that question by opening fire. Their Axial cannon fired a slug at an extremely high velocity, faster than the matriarch thought possible. Less than a second later, they slammed into the surface of Kar'shan, aiming at the major cities, which were now pools of black sludge. Massive explosions of white energy emanated from the impact sites, leaving craters easily seen from orbit. The rest of the human ships opened fire, their fusion lances hitting targets with the force of a nuclear bomb. Not intending to be outdone, the asari opened fire, releasing nuclear warheads and firing their main guns for kinetic strikes. Hundreds of tons of ordinance pounded the world below, slowly wiping out the nanobot infestation. The bombardment lasted eight hours, before it finally ended. The world below lay in ruins. Cracks in the planet's crust from the humans' heavier ordinances littered the surface, bathing it in an orange glow, while clouds of ash formed a death shroud over the batarian homeworld. Hundreds of detonations in the oceans had flash-evaporated them, reducing them to a fraction of their former selves. There was no sign of the nanobot infestation, although it was not likely that the bombardment had destroyed it. However, the result was clear. The batarian hegemony, or at least what the Ancient Ones had twisted it into, was gone, and the batarian people were as well. Personally, Seryna did not miss them. Their flaunting of council law, coupled with their general unpleasantness, made it a solid victory in her books, although any asari with a batarian bondmate would likely disagree. She opened a fleetwide comm channel, and ordered the asari fleet back to Thessia. She had a lot of explaining to do.

* * *

Dr. Lawson Project Completion Report: Project Infestation- Analysis of the few samples of Ancient One nanites has only yielded grim tidings. The nanites are, at first glance, designed only to replicate using any resources available to them, which if unchecked, would lead to a 'Grey Goo' scenario on any world that they are deployed on. Due to this, the nanites in captivity have been surrounded by laser fields, designed to incinerate any that get out of hand. However, what is truly horrifying is what happens when the nanites meet organic flesh, as evidenced when my pet hamster, may he rest in peace, got into the nanite vat. The nanites immediately enter the body from whatever orifice is available, and quickly proceed to augment it into something far stronger and more combat effective. However, the nanites also enter the brain, and through use of molecular control fields seize control of it, turning the organism into an Ancient One thrall. The hamster developed a miniature railgun built into its back, as well as nanite injectors in its teeth, thus necessitating its euthanization. The nanites appear to be unable to differentiate between living and dead flesh, as evidenced when we dropped a raw steak in, and watched it transform into a buzz saw like implement, capable of moving around its cage on small cilia. We have managed to create a gene mod designed to counter these nanites, although it is not a perfect solution, as in sufficient number the nanites will overwhelm the defenses provided by the modification.

Anti-Nanite System Gene mod created.

* * *

Library Completion report 1: Designation- Xenonaut

Dr. Lawson Biological report.

Xenonauts: When we first created a dead clone of the race in question, we thought that the race we designated 'Xenonaut' was a human. However, upon closer analysis, we have determined that this appearance was the result of parallel evolution on the galactic scale. Both technologically and biologically, our races have followed an almost identical path. When the Overlord invaded, both of our races created a covert organization designed to fight them. The Xenonauts even managed to reach the endgame of the war, barely being defeated when they stormed the Temple Ship, their planet cleansed by the release of a chryssalid-like terror creature. Due to their morphological and biological similarity to a human, we have gained very little in the form of gene mods from this race.

Caesan: The autopsy of a Caesan creature has revealed a lifeform highly dependent on psionics. They seem to have a variety of organs specifically designed for increasing their psionic ability, specifically creating a 'hive mind' in this race. Whether this is part of Ethereal genetic manipulation, as this race was used in their conquest of the Xenonauts, remains to be seen. The Ethereals have rated this race as 'Wasted Potential', likely meaning that they did not put up that much of a fight during their conquest. Regardless, we believe that we can use this race's psionic specialization to augment our own, increasing the effectiveness of our own mind melds and C-psi abilities.

Psi-gland gene mod created.

Sebillian- This reptilian race may be related to the Thin Men that we encountered during the war. However, this creature is obviously built for frontline combat like the muton. While its resilient hide cannot be easily replicated, we have found something that can. A large percentage of the creature's blood is filled with coagulants and unspecialized stem cells, allowing it to rapidly regenerate from wounds taken in combat. When used in conjunction with our adaptive bone marrow, it would give humans a healing factor that easily surpasses the Krogan.

Regenerative Blood gene mod created.

Wraith- This is yet another race used in the Xenonaut conquest, and is by far the most interesting. It seems to possess the ability to teleport through use of obviously artificial nodes on the side of its head. I believe that we can incorporate these into our own bodies, albeit in a more efficient manner due to us knowing more about teleportation than the Overlord ever did. As such, we can have humans teleporting without big blue hemispheres stuck to our heads.

Teleporter Gene mod created.

Harridan- At first glance, we assumed that the Harridan was a modified Caesan. We were wrong. The Harridan is a purpose built engineer, while the Caesan is a psionic soldier and leader. A Harridan brain and body is built with fine motor control and spatial awareness in mind, and I believe that I can incorporate these features into our own genome. Finally, Harridan seem to be able to interface with machines in a manner similar to Cyberdiscs, albeit less efficiently.

360 degree awareness gene mod created.

Hyper Motor Control gene mod created.

Dr. Lawson personal note: After reviewing this report, I was struck by how many gene mods we have obtained from these few races alone. It makes me wonder where we should draw the line, as well as what we consider human. If someone from before the invasion would come here, would he or she consider us to still be human? When do we decide that we have had enough, playing god with our own genome? End Report.

* * *

Ryan Williams Engineering Report 1: Designation- Xenonaut

We started our investigation looking at infantry weapons. The Xenonauts had progressed in a manner similar to our own, going from ballistics, to lasers, to plasma. However, after plasma weaponry, they apparently chose to advance to infantry coilguns powered by Elerium power cells. While these MAG weapons are obsolete when compared to mass effect tech, I believe that we can incorporate certain elements of their construction into our artillery ships' main armaments, allowing for an even greater acceleration. I will send this to the boys down in the foundry to work on. Hopefully they will make something of it.

Elerium Coilgun available in the Foundry

In addition to their unusual choice in weaponry, the Xenonauts had developed some interesting equipment for their troops. While most of their equipment either is equal to or beneath our own in terms of effectiveness, an example being their personal armor, I have found several examples that interest me, such as their use of stun gas where we used ARC throwers. However, the only thing that we can truly gain from the infantry equipment found in this vessel is the infantry shields. Large rectangular slabs of metal are surprisingly effective at stopping incoming fire, albeit at the cost of being able to use anything larger than an SMG. Bio-steel from the alien dimension is the material of choice for our own examples.

Bio-Steel shield available for manufacture.

Some of the most interesting examples of Xenonaut tech comes from their aerospace fighters. Rather than do what we did, and practically duplicate a UFO when designing their fighters, they attempted to incorporate alien tech into their existing fighters, never truly abandoning their design conventions. Despite this, two aircraft stood out. The fighter that we designated 'Fury' looks like the SR-71 Blackbird spyplane, and is both remote controlled and capable of carrying extremely heavy munitions into battle. With some modifications, we believe that we can create a true fighter for our Cyberdiscs to use, as the standard configuration cyberdisc is not effective in space combat aside from a mobile point defense platform. Secondly was the transport that we designated 'Valkyrie'. Said plane outperforms the Skyranger on every level, capable of carrying more troops into battle at a higher speed. In addition, it has a unique method of troop deployment, dropping said soldiers inside drop pods rather than landing to unload them. If adapted for space flight, the Valkyrie could become the standard frontline transport, replacing the Lightning in that role.

F-120 Fury Automated Fighter is now available for production.

V-54 Valkyrie Transport is now available for production.

S-54 Assassin Stealth Transport is now available for production.

Orbital Insertion Pod System is now available for installation on our starships.

In terms of aircraft armaments, the Xenonauts were mostly unremarkable, their weaponry either surpassed or equaled by our own. There was one thing that stood out, though. The Singularity Torpedo is, pardon my french, the scariest fucking thing I have ever laid eyes on. It creates a miniature black hole upon detonation, enough to destroy any target with ease. The gravity fluctuations would prevent our dimensional gates from allowing our forces to extract while the singularity is active as well, so we should exercise utmost caution in our development of this weapon. If the council got their hands on this... The results are not good. This weapon, when coupled with a teleporter, becomes a weapon you CANNOT defend against. It can bypass your defenses and destroy an entire star system in a single detonation. This could be the perfect weapon for use against the Ancient Ones, but difficulties with deployment would make use extremely risky. Use with caution.

Singularity Tele-Bomb available for manufacture.

Finally, I conclude my report with several interesting facilities and upgrades that could be implemented into the Apex, as the Apex is XCOM's HQ in addition to being a dreadnought. Ranging from simple addition of laser ovens in the kitchens to biological super-computer upgrades to our science labs and nanobot forges to main engineering, we would severely improve our research and production capabilities. I will submit this to the foundry. Secondly is a Quantum Cryptology Center. Designed to crack Ethereal Hyperwave encryptions, the QCC is every codebreaker's dream. The addition of it to the Apex would only benefit XCOM.

Quantum Cryptology Center is now available for construction.

Facilities Upgrade is now available in the Foundry.

* * *

**A/N: Whew! This chapter has gone through several revisions, and I am still not quite satisfied with it, but I cannot find another way to improve it. Enjoy it.**

**Xenonauts is the first of a series of games to be added into the library. Next is either Halo or WH40K, although the timeline would have to be SEVERELY adjusted.**


	13. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10- Tuchanka**

**October 2nd, 2163**

**TAS Apex Situation Room**

* * *

The faceless visage of the Council spokesman was spread out across the vidscreen. Jack Harper listened for his orders.

"Hello, Commander. We have made our decision regarding the status of the Krogan. As you know, we have finished negotiations with the citadel over repossession of Tuchanka. Now, we have made our decision. The Krogan are desperate, and will follow anyone who cures them of the Genophage, which is slowly driving them to extinction. In addition, there are several Krogan that, should they take control of their race, are more than ready to join our Alliance peacefully. We have made contact with one such Krogan, who goes by the name of Urdnot Wrex. He has a claim to the throne of the Urdnot clan, and shares our wish for Krogan integration into the Alliance. Your orders are: To develop a partial cure for the Genophage, to place Urdnot Wrex on the Urdnot throne, and to unify Tuchanka under his rule. Are we clear on this?" The councilor asked.

"In most aspects, I understand. However, why are we only making a partial cure? Would not a full cure be better suited for this alliance?" Harper replied.

"The Krogan birth rate is far too high for this galaxy to sustain should we release them. That was the main cause of the Krogan Rebellions, which occured due to the Krogan needing room to grow due to overpopulation. A partial cure entails the following: A removal of stillbirths, causing every Krogan born to be born living, while at the same time, decreasing conception rate, allowing for the Krogan to grow at a more manageable rate. This way, all the outward effects of the Genophage will be cured, but the overpopulation problem is still reduced in scope. Should this become a problem, blame the Salarians." The councilor answered.

"Very well. I will get Dr. Lawson on it immediately. Is there anything else?" Harper asked.

"No. You have your orders, now execute them." The council spokesman's image flickered and died. Harper walked to the intercom unit, and summoned Miranda Lawson. He outlined the plan to her, before she asked him one question.

"Do we have any Krogan corpses available for study?" She asked.

"Yes. Urdnot Wrex was kind enough to send us some. They're Blood Pack mercs, nothing too important." Jack replied.

"Good. I'll get to work on the development of a partial cure. It should be done soon, as the Salarian modification is meld-less, and should thus be easy to reverse." Miranda said, before leaving the room. Harper waited until she had left, before sending out an update request to the Eli'ranas scout craft that were sent to search for Ancient One artifacts. Several of them replied positive. One had been located in an asteroid field in the Bahak system, while another was found on Aequitas, in the Fortis system. Both had been reported destroyed, although the Bahak artifact had attempted to project some sort of molecular control based communication into the scouts' minds, while the Aequitas artifact had a massive army of husks protecting it, resulting in heavy casualties. Other scouts had multiple false alarms listed. Then, Harper came to the report of a scout near Geth space, and his eyes widened. A fully intact Ancient One had been waiting for them at one of their patrol destinations, and had nearly destroyed the scout craft before making its escape. The scout attempted to follow, but lost it at Omega, believing that it had gone through the Omega 4 relay. Due to the relay's unusual nature, the scout craft did not pursue. Jack ordered a deconstruction fleet to the Omega 4 relay. If that machine went through it, it damn well should stay there. Naturally, the people of Omega voiced their complaints, which had been ignored. The Omega 4 relay was scheduled to be deconstructed in 1 month's time.

* * *

**October 14th, 2163**

**Tuchanka**

Urdnot Wrex looked across the shuttle at the human envoy. He had a respect for the race, and not just because of their war against the Turians. They were militaristic, true, but unlike the Krogan, they were thinking warriors. While a Krogan would charge the enemy and overwhelm them through brute force, a human would simply step aside and let their opponent slam into a wall. They turned their enemies' strengths against them, adapting to overcome their foes. It made him think of what the Krogan could have become, had they not been prematurely uplifted by the Salarians. While most krogan hated the salarians for their creation of the genophage, he hated them for taking away any hope that the Krogan had of becoming their own society, turning them into a weapon against the Rachni. Now, the krogan had the chance to be reborn as their own race, rather than as a weapon. Wrex knew that the only reason the Krogan were being cured was so that they could be thrown at the Ancient Ones, but attached to that reason came the offer of rebirth as a people. Now, Wrex was returning to Tuchanka for the first time since his father had betrayed him. With his return came either a rebirth for the Krogan, or a slow and painful death for the last of his people.

"Valkyrie is landing. All personnel stand by." Came the voice of the shuttle's pilot. True to his word, the shuttle touched down moments later, the rear ramp opening. Wrex exited the shuttle, his ancestors' armor, which the humans had recovered, gleaming in the sun of Tuchanka. Fifteen XCOM agents followed him out of the shuttle, plasma weaponry at the ready. One of the krogan guards, one that Wrex recognized as a supporter of his movement all those years ago, gasped at the sight.

"Wrex! I knew you would return!" He said, walking up to the party.

"Gresh! Its good to see that you're still kicking. What's the situation down here? How much of a mess has Wreav made of our clan?" Wrex replied.

"Our territory is a fraction of its size before he took power. The idiot's a waste of space, and I hope to the ancestors that you've come to get rid of him." Gresh said.

"Even better. I'm back to unify Tuchanka and cure the genophage." Wrex answered.

"You always did have a poor taste in jokes, Wrex. Tuchanka's a lost cause, you said it yourself. Might as well get off world and live for the present, because we krogan don't have a future." Gresh said, dejectedly.

"That was not a joke. I've got the cure in that shuttle, along with a bunch of human rifles to back it up!" Wrex said.

Before Gresh could reply, another Krogan walked up to the pair.

"Is it true? Do you have the cure?" The krogan asked.

"That I do. The Humans are willing to administer it, albeit on one condition. They want me to unify Tuchanka, and in return, they apply the cure." Wrex answered.

"Ancestors... what they said about you was true! You are more fit to lead this clan than your brother!" The Krogan ran off, to spread the news. Then, several minutes later, the current clan chief of clan Urdnot walked up to the shuttle, two bodyguards trailing behind him.

"You go to far Wrex! I tolerate your presence, but your false cure? This is an outrage! I demand that you leave at once!" Wreav shouted.

"No, it is you that must leave. I will not let you drive this once proud clan any further into ruination!" Wrex shouted, stepping forward towards Wreav.

"Grax, Parck, take care of him!" Wreav shouted, beckoning his guards forward. They took half a step forward, before they suddenly collapsed to the ground, unconscious. Not a single being, krogan or human, had moved, although the eyes of one of the humans had glowed a bright purple for less than a second.

"Is the current leader of this clan so weak that even his best warriors faint like little pyjacks?" Wrex taunted, as Wreav looked at the motionless forms of his guards.

Any response that Wreav had was drowned out by the watching Krogan cheering Wrex on. These cheers intensified as Wrex walked up to his shocked brother and delivered a crushing headbutt.

"Whether you like it or not, brother, I am the chief here now. You better fall in line." Wrex growled, before turning to the crowd. "As some of you may already know, I come here bearing a cure to the terrible disease that the Salarians have cursed us with. The Humans were kind enough to make it, and are willing to give us the cure on one condition. They want Tuchanka to be unified under one clan, and they have decided that we are to be that clan!" Wrex said to the assembled Krogan.

"How? We are one of the weakest clans on Tuchanka, at the moment! How are we supposed to conquer this world?"

"Why, when did you think we would conquer it? The other clans will flock to us when we reveal the cure, and those that won't? We have plasma cannons waiting for them!" Wrex replied.

The crowd cheered him on as he made his way to the Urdnot throne. Several humans unloaded plasma weapons from the shuttle, while Krogan looked on in anticipation. The next few days would be days of celebration. Krogan style celebration.

* * *

**October 19th, 2163**

**Tuchanka Hollows**

Urdnot Wrex was met with stunned silence as he finished his speech. The clan chiefs of Tuchanka were assembled, wishing to hear what the new upstart chief had to say, only to be shocked into a stunned stupor.

"How can you be sure that this cure is genuine?" The chief of Jorgal asked.

"It is. The humans are a race of honor. They would not mislead us." Wrex replied.

"Are you blind, Wrex? The humans see us as a tool! Once they have thrown us at whatever enemy they want to, they'll just go around and sterilize us again!" Gatatog Uvenk shouted, a chorus of agreements following.

"Do you know why the Salarians sterilized us? It was because we could not adapt to life off our world! Now we have a second chance. Do we waste it?" Wrex asked in return.

"You lie. The humans have no interest in us. They won't even sterilize us when they're done! All they would do is bomb us into oblivion!" Weyrloc Guld shouted.

This shouting match went on for several hours, with two distinct sides forming. The greater one formed around Wrex, with Jorgal and Nakmor clans being chief among its members, while Weyrloc and Gatatog formed their own, opposing unification. In the end, it was only the sacred laws of the hollows that prevented the two sides from engaging in an all out melee. All the chiefs left in armored Tomkahs, wary of the other side's intentions. All the chiefs, that is, aside from Wrex. In his own vehicle, he smiled. Unlike those backwards fools of Weyrloc and Gatatog, he had a plan.

* * *

**October 22nd, 2163**

**Weyrloc Camp**

The eight black armored Krogan slipped silently into the enemy camp, rifles at the ready should they be discovered. They were clad entirely in unadorned blue-black armor, with no identifying markings aside from a single patch on their left shoulders, signifying them as the members of the most elite combat unit of Tuchanka, under the command of Urdnot Wrex himself. Aralakh company was Wrex's attempt at modernizing his clan's military, and his efforts were about to pay off.

Twenty minutes later, the Weyrloc Chieftain's hall exploded in a ball of fire, followed shortly afterward by the various defensive turrets surrounding the bombed out hospital. With loud warcries, the rest of Aralakh company jumped into the fray, plasma cannons filling the air with green fire. It was only a few seconds before bright blue-white streaks from Weyrloc mass effect guns began to flay their lines, but they were disorganized and sloppy. A single mass effect bullet was little more than an annoyance to a Krogan, while a single shot of superheated plasma could very well kill a Krogan regardless of regeneration. Soon, fires began to burn from the plasma rifle impacts, and the Weyrloc weapons fire began to die down. Soon, every last warrior in the Weyrloc camp was dead, with the females and children awaiting their execution. However, death did not come for them, the Urdnot forces never opening fire.

"What will you do to us?" A female asked, cradling her child in her arms, thus indicating that she was fertile.

"You are to come with us to the Urdnot camp. Our chief does not see why some Krogan should not receive the benefit of the Genophage cure." One of the Krogan soldiers replied.

This was unheard of. A defeated clan would have its females and children executed, and yet here they were being shown mercy. With no other choice, the females obeyed, leaving their home for the Urdnot camp.

* * *

**November 3rd, 2163**

**Tuchanka Hollows**

The war had been won, with clans Weyrloc and Gatatog being destroyed in devastating raids by Aralakh company, their females and children assimilating into clan Urdnot. The minor clans following them had mostly joined Urdnot's faction, as their chiefs knew that, should they continue to resist, they would only become Aralakh company's next target. The chiefs had gathered in the Hollows once more, this time being joined by several humans.

"Urdnot Wrex. Has Tuchanka been successfully unified under either one governing body or leader?" One of them asked.

"It has. This council of Chiefs now convenes for the first time, eager to return the Krogan to their former glory." Wrex replied.

"Then it is my honor to cure the Genophage and restore the Krogan to their rightful place as a galactic power." The human delegate said, before speaking into a handheld communicator. The roar of a shuttlecraft was heard in the Hollows, as the craft carrying the cure flew towards the Salarian built Shroud, a massive structure designed to stabilize the planet's atmosphere. Soon afterwards, a series of massive white streaks lit the sky, as the cure was replicated and dispersed. It was as if snow was falling on Tuchanka, although said snow was composed of specially programmed Meld. As the meld settled on Krogan skin, and was breathed in, it spread throughout the body, reversing the damage done by the genophage in a matter of minutes. It was the first non-surgical deployment of Meld based modifications, and would form the pattern for many gene mods to come. The Krogan were cured, and were ready once more to reclaim their status as a spacefaring race.

* * *

Dr. Lawson Project Completion Report: Project Panacea: Designing the cure for the Genophage was simple enough. The salarian modifications, while amazing by non-meld standards, were extremely sloppy. In essence, they used garbage data to clog attachment sites for vital reproductive data, rendering many females sterile. A cure for this was extremely simple to engineer, with the most difficult part being the limiting of the conception rate. The real breakthrough pioneered by this project, however, was the development of non-surgical based meld augmentation. This process will allow for a much cheaper and more efficient augmentation method, allowing us to 'sedate and spray', as one of my scientists put it. Due to the possible threat of a Leviathan invasion post Ancient One war, I have begun using this method to create a universal toxin against their race.

Meld Gas technology created.

Gene Toxin: L created.

Krogan Autopsy: As I was left with several leftover Krogan corpses by the time the cure was completed, I have performed several autopsies of their race in order to develop more efficient genetic modifications for our own troops. They proved to be a gold mine of genetic data, allowing for the creation of several modifications due to their highly effective body regeneration, as well as their numerous organ redundancies and aggression. In fact, had Tuchanka not been such a harsh world, I would have thought that the Krogan were a product of genetic engineering, a very good attempt at creating a 'Soldier race'. Although human body limitations would prevent me from creating a full secondary organ system, the data gleaned from this autopsy would allow for the creation of a secondary nervous system, as well as a far more efficient method of wound regeneration, which when compounded with adaptive bone marrow and regenerative blood gene mods, would create extremely rapid regeneration in our own species, allowing for almost any wound to heal in under a minute, excluding limb severing and destruction of both primary and secondary organs.

Redundant Nervous system Gene Mod created.

Krogan Regeneration Gene Mod created.

* * *

Library Completion report 2: Designation: Covenant

Dr. Lawson Biological Report

Spartan: The race that we have designated 'Spartan', based off of their highly militaristic culture, seems to be human at first glance. This is the second 'Human template' race that we have discovered so far in the Library, leading to questions coming up about our races' origins. Could it be possible that the 'Human' type of life was once seeded across the galaxy? Was it the Ethereals' doing? Regardless, this race was one of the more difficult races for the Overlord to conquer. This was due to their use of body modifications that even we would consider illegal, in order to create extremely effective super soldiers. We have one such soldier preserved in stasis, his designation reading that he was the 117th to be created. However, the Spartans could not adapt fast enough to the alien technology, despite the war for their homeworld lasting for several decades at least. They simply did not create their own plasma weapons, choosing instead to rely on chemically propelled ballistic weaponry, as well as a small amount of primitive handheld laser guns. This inability to adapt was the primary reason that they fell. Due to morphological similarities, I was unable to develop gene mods from this race, although their supersoldiers provided an extremely interesting series of specimens. Around 3% of their bones were covered in extremely strong ceramics, while muscle density and lactase recovery times were increased and decreased respectively, allowing for nearly unbreakable bones and remarkable body strength and stamina. Skeletal and muscle tissues were grown in a crude if effective manner, while ocular augmentations allowed for a noticeable increase in perception. Finally, the addition of superconductors into the nervous system allowed for a 300% increase in reflex time, as well as a possible increase in subject memory retention and creativity. However, the manner in which these augmentations were applied led to a wide variety of devastating side effects for many subjects, as well as a high mortality rate in all test subjects. However, Meld will allow us to make many of these modifications without the negative side effects of the Spartans' crude augmentation procedures.

Ceramic Ossification Gene Mod created.

Lactase Recovery Enhancement Gene Mod created.

Ocular Capillary Implants Gene Mod created.

Neural Superconductors Gene Mod created.

Sanghelli: This imposing race seemed to be one of a religious conglomerate of races, existing as the Citadel's occupants during the Spartans' cycle. Extreme upper body strength and a predatory instinct combined to create an extremely effective warrior race. In addition, they seem to have developed some kind of Eezo based plasma weaponry. However, this race was badly weakened by a civil war when the Ancient Ones came, suggesting their involvement. This race was one that was a victim of the Crucible trap. Although this race is very physically powerful, there is little I can glean from them that has not already been included in prior gene mods.

Jiralhanae: Nicknamed 'The Chimp' by our science teams, the Jiralhanae seem to have replaced the Sanghelli as the primary military race of the Citadel in their cycle. Their technology was much more primitive than that of their Sanghelli counterparts, leaving the Citadel weakened when facing the Ancient Ones. Once again, however, while some of their technology is interesting, their biology will not produce any non redundant genetic modifications.

San'shyuum: This race appears to have been the leader caste of the Citadel during its cycle. A cataclysmic event on their homeworld forced them to abandon it, leading to their race's genetic integrity being severely weakened by inbreeding. For this reason, this physically frail race relied on its servants to support them. We were unable to glean anything valuable from them.

Kig-Yar: A Dextro amino race, these avian creatures seemed to be a lower social caste in the San'shyuum hierarchy, used as second line grunts and bullet bait in the Ancient One war. While their physiology was mostly unimpressive, their reproductive ability could be adapted to Aiva physiology, allowing them to reproduce without needing a mate, albeit at the cost of genetic diversity. For this reason, this Gene mod will not be deployed.

Single Sex Egg Fertilization Gene Mod created.

Unggoy: This race was the lowest caste in the Citadel Hierarchy during its cycle. Physically weak and methane breathing, their physiology was useless to me when developing gene mods for our race. The only race that this could possibly benefit would be the Volus, due to similar atmospheric requirements.

Yanme'e: This insectoid hive minded race shares many characteristics with the Eli'ranas, although the latter lack wings. These were used as disposable drones and scouts in the Ancient One war. The race itself lacks a culture, being mostly drones with a small amount of queens leading them. I have managed to develop a wing mod for the Eli'ranas' use, allowing for them to be able to fly naturally.

Insectoid Wings Gene Mod created.

Mgalekgolo: This race was perhaps the most unique race in this report, due to an individual of this race being the size of an earthworm, sensing the world around it through vibrations, barely more intelligent than a common housefly. However, these races seem to have a proximity based intelligence similar to that of pre-contact Geth, with their intelligence increasing exponentially as more and more combine to form a single gestalt of bodies and minds. For this reason, they were used as living tanks in the Ancient One war. Due to morphological differences, however, I was unable to adapt anything from their bodies.

Huragok: An extremely interesting race, the Huragok seem to be purpose-built engineers, capable of splitting their tentacles into tiny cilia to manipulate machinery and reconfigure it. This, when combined with their brains, which seem to be biological supercomputers, make this race extremely effective at the production, modification, and maintenance of technology. This race is almost certainly the product of extensive genetic engineering. Although I was unable to adapt anything from their bodies, I highly recommend this race as a priority for repopulation once the war is over.

Ecumenese: Another Ancient One survivor race, the Ecumenese preceded the San'shyuum as the masters of the Citadel, their ruins the subject of worship by the races of the cycle following theirs. In an attempt to destroy the Ancient Ones, this race created a set of massive ring-worlds, each one a powerful superweapon designed to destroy Ancient Ones, although their activation would also destroy all life in the galaxy. The Ethereals waged a galactic war with them over this, finally ending in the destruction of their race at the Ethereals' hands. By the time the San'shyuum took power, the Ecumenese were long gone. Their technology is fascinating to behold, possibly surpassing even that of the Ethereals, utilizing hard light as its base, with their weaponry consisting of energy beams. However, the Ethereals do not have physical specimens of this race on hand, due to the method in which they won the war. They bio-engineered a parasite, creating a deadly enemy that adapted to the Ecumenese, forming the perfect enemy to destroy them. This parasite, designated 'The Flood', has since been destroyed.

* * *

Ryan Williams Engineering Report 2: Designation: Covenant

While the Spartans' technology left much to be desired, one thing stood out. The armor that they equipped their supersoldiers with is highly advanced, designed to interface directly with the central nervous system, while holding an AI created from a flash cloned brain. While Flash cloning alone is remarkable, the armor is extremely versatile, carrying a powerful energy shield and an efficient physical augmentation system. While our armors already interface with our nervous systems, the physical augmentation systems, as well as many other features such as the refractive coating that protects against plasma weaponry, can be integrated into our own suit designs. I will send these down to the foundry to begin production.

Plasma Refractive Coating is available in the Foundry.

Energy Shielding is available in the Foundry.

Armor Physical Augmentations Enhancers is available in the Foundry.

Analysis of the San'shyuum covenant's technology revealed a universal plasma base for all their tech. Using mass effect fields to control and project plasma, these weapons are extremely formidable, being on a par with our own plasma guns. Their starships utilized this to the extreme in their main guns, which fired massive beams of plasma that could be used to glass planets from orbit should they wish to do so. Glassing was a tactic used to destroy lost worlds during the Ancient One war, as well as providing a suitable weapon for use against the Ancient Ones in space. However, the Ancient Ones deployed their more powerful craft against them, costing them the war. This proves to be a crucial insight into Ancient One strategies. A machine always attempts to accomplish its task utilizing the least amount of possible force, thus they will deploy incrementally stronger ships against us until they either have an advantage or run out of ships. As such, I recommend doing the same with them, keeping our artillery ships and dreadnoughts in reserve until the Ancient Ones begin to overwhelm our weaker ships. Covenant plasma weaponry, while useless to us, as we have our own equivalents, can be given to the Council as a gesture of goodwill.

Eezo Plasma Weaponry is available for production.

Energy Projector is available for production.

The Ecumenese, however, are the most interesting of the races that I have had the fortune of studying. Hard Light is a marvel of engineering, as evidenced in the 'Outsiders' utilized by the Overlord during the Ethereal War. This technology finally allows us to produce our own Outsider crystals, allowing for the creation of hardlight shields, portable armies, and effective cutting weaponry.

Hard Light projector is available for production.

* * *

**A/N: Here it is folks, the much MUCH delayed update for this story. A combination of procrastination, lack of motivation, and War Thunder have prevented me from working on this. Also, my inability to write Krogan also played a part, as I feel that I rushed through their contact and assimilation into the Alliance. Anyway, enjoy. Rachni are next on the menu.**


	14. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11- A New Song**

**March 10th, 2164**

**Eli'ranas scout ship 'TAS Searcher 1201'**

* * *

Overseer Triklinorlirak, also known as Trikli, stood on the bridge of the Eli'ranas scout vessel. The rest of his kind aboard the small hundred meter long scout craft scurried around, their chitinous feet making small clicks as they impacted the metal floor. The scout's mission was simple- To search for any Ancient One artifacts, and if possible, destroy them.

The ship exited a dimensional gate, the scout ship being small enough to carry one of its own. Only the very largest and the very smallest ships in the alliance navy could carry their own dimensional gate generators, with other ships requiring the use of the main dimensional gate network for FTL travel.

Almost immediately, Trikli felt an alien psionic signature touch his mind. The other Eli'ranas drones on the ship also seemed to feel it, as they began to chitter in confusion. Restoring order to them with his own psi-field, Trikli began to scan for the strange psi-signature's source. He found it on a derelict ship, one not matching any known profiles, Ancient One, Ethereal, or otherwise.

As the scout craft closed, Trikli began to feel the signature intensify, and he began to make out a strange song inside it. It was wordless, and yet it seemed to convey distress. Was this some ancient species' distress beacon?

The scout craft came up alongside the strange derelict. Trikli donned his combat vac-suit, ordering the drones to put their own ones on. Then, when they were adequately prepared, they exited the airlock, grav-jets moving them into the alien craft's strangely intact hull. Once inside, Trikli noted the strange hallway design, as if it was built for small, insectoid creatures rather than the more common upright biped. While the smaller drones had no problem entering the passageways, Trikli, being a sentient overseer, had to compress his body in order to move. The ship itself was about the size of a Citadel cruiser, so it was small compared to the expansive Terran equivalents. As the Eli'ranas proceeded down the hall, the song changed. It seemed to be beckoning the Eli'ranas onward, closer to its source.

Then, the team reached its destination. It was a single egg, about half the size of an Eli'ranas drone. As the Eli'ranas closed in, the song became louder. Then, when one made contact, the egg twitched. The song dropped off in volume, replaced by a tiny, barely audible melody. Slowly, the egg split open, a tiny insectoid creature exiting.

'_Get a message through to HQ. We've made contact with a psionic lifeform.'_ Trikli ordered one of the drones, which complied, activating a hyperwave comm. Once the message was sent, the Eli'ranas stood by, waiting for a reply. All the while, the newly hatched insect was exploring its surroundings, still releasing that strange song, although it was slowly growing in volume. The creature seemed to be drinking a strange nutrient fluid that had leaked from the now hatched egg.

"We read you, Seeker 1201. We have a frigate inbound for pick up. Hold your position, another scout will be diverted to finish your patrol. HQ out."

Several minutes later, the drones onboard the scout craft reported a frigate, the TAS Gettysburg, entering the system. By then, the creature had stopped drinking, and seemed to have grown several protrusions, as well as a much larger head. As a shuttlecraft from the frigate docked with the derelict, Trikli suddenly felt a tug at the psionic network keeping him in control of the drones under his command. The creature was attempting to wrest control of a drone from him! Increasing the strength of the psionic wards around the mind of the targeted drone, Trikli suddenly heard the song change. It seemed to be showing confusion. Any thoughts on this matter were put aside as several human marines and scientists entered the room.

"What's the situation?" One of them asked.

"The creature has been confirmed to possess psi-abilities, as it seems to be attempting to take control of one of my drones." Trikli reported.

"It may be trying to communicate. Allow it to take control." One of the scientists ordered. Trikli responded by releasing control of the Eli'ranas drone. Then, the drone froze, before it squealed in confusion as a foreign mind took control. Then, it stopped, standing unnaturally still.

"Your songs are strange, colorless. You sing as if you are pushing air. It is... difficult to understand." The drone spoke, its voice distorted by its under-evolved vocal cords.

"Who and what are you?" One of the scientists asked.

"I am the last of the Rachni queens, sent to compose anew when the Sour Yellow Note corrupted the old queens' song." The newly born Rachni queen said through the Eli'ranas drone.

"Rachni? Didn't you attack and nearly destroy the Citadel races?"

"Our Queens wanted nothing more than to let their song harmonize with that of the rest of the Galaxy. However, then came the Sour Yellow note, twisting the melody of peace into the cacophony of war. The old queens became twisted, the note corrupting them as well. Before they fell, they send my egg away, to compose far away from the Sour note's source."

"Wait, how do you know all this?"

"We remember. Our memories are passed on."

"What was this 'Sour Yellow Note' that caused you to wage war on the galaxy? We wish to make sure that it does not threaten us, before we allow you inside our territory."

"We do not know. The ancient queens found an artifact on an ancient world, which would later become the note's source. However, we knew not its origins, only that it corrupted us. By the time we found its true nature, it was already too late. We were too corrupted to bring ourselves to destroy the source of our ruination."

"What will you do now?"

"We wish only to harmonize with the rest of the galaxy, but the galaxy is not yet ready for the return of the Rachni. We wish only to be left alone, on a quiet world, to develop ourselves. Then, when we deem the Galaxy ready, the Rachni will return."

"I have a counter-proposal." Trikli said, causing all eyes to turn on him. "The Eli'ranas hives may be willing to accept the Rachni as a protectorate. I wish to, with the Rachni queen's permission, of course, request an audience with the Eli'ranas queens' council, and allow the Rachni to plead their case."

"That is... an interesting proposal. We will accept the Eli'ranas' proposal, assuming that they accept me and my future children."

Soon, the Rachni queen was onboard the TAS Gettysburg, and was en route to the Eli'ranas homeworld. Meanwhile, a scientific team was examining the derelict Rachni ship for any possible salvageable technology. Finding nothing worthwhile, the team eventually set plasma charges, destroying the warship to prevent other races from discovering the resurgent Rachni.

* * *

The Rachni queen was given the fifth planet in the Eli'ranas home system, due to that world having the near-inhospitable climate that the Rachni were accustomed to. Within 2 years, the planet contained a full-blown rachni colony, one which had begun trading with the rest of Alliance space. Over the next twenty years, the galaxy would settle down, focusing on mass military build up in order to face the Ancient One threat. While human forces had located the machines in an isolated system in Dark space, the recon probe's findings were disturbing, revealing a massive fortress of a system, containing a full blown Dyson Sphere, which served the dual purpose of hiding the system's emissions and providing a central base for the Ancient One forces. While the probes had attempted to gauge the amount of combat capable machine-ships in the system, they were only able to obtain basic estimates. These estimates put the amount of total starships inside the system somewhere in the billion range, while simultaneously documenting about a hundred planetoids, suspected to be some form of defense platform. After the findings were shared, the various races of the galaxy began work on planning their assault, developing technologies to fight the Ancient Ones in their own space.

* * *

**December 9th, 2164**

**Mars Orbital Shipyards**

The TAS Normandy was finally complete, having undergone multiple refits and even a total re-design while under construction. The ship was the first of the new class of state-of-the-art Stealth Frigates, designed to operate solo behind enemy lines, performing acts of sabotage, acting as a hit-and-run raider. Its shakedown run was performed flawlessly, the ship's systems running at optimal capacity, with Captain Anderson praising the ship's design, calling it 'The next generation of warship'. Twenty more Normandy class vessels are planned to be finished by 2170.

* * *

**May 22nd, 2165**

The Transcendant Justice was complete, its two sister ships in the final stages of construction as well. Due to the absence of the Turian Hierarchy, the Asari Republics had stepped up their military production, their fleet rapidly growing to become the largest in Citadel space, the Salarians being close behind in terms of military strength. Hanar, Elcor, and Volus militaries were likewise growing in strength, the Volus having announced their newest Dreadnought, the Kwuunu, to be finished in 2 months. Volus spatial strength combined with the Elcor's growing armies, the Elcor fleet itself being the smallest of all the council races. However, the Elcor ground forces were extremely strong, almost on par with those of the Asari. Finally, the Hanar fleets utilized primarily automated drones in their own military, although Drell combat specialists were renowed for their effectiveness in the field, with Sireyt Keris becoming the first Drell SpecTRe in 2165.

* * *

**February 28th, 2167**

The first human/asari child is born. However, her parents are the subject of great controversy. Her father, Felix Carter, was an XCOM Psi-specialist, while her mother was Morinth, an Asari Ardat-Yakshi. Ardat-Yakshi were an extremely well kept secret, the Terran intelligence agencies not even knowing that they were real. However, acting upon intelligence given by Morinth, the Terran Intelligence Agency located a monastery on Kallini, inside which were twenty Ardat Yakshi. Brief Psi-scans of the area showed that all of the Ardat-Yakshi incarcerated within possessed psi-abilities ranging from class 8 to class 10. The initial belief was that the Asari were secretly training their own psionic army, but upon closer examination it was found that the Asari were unable to use their own abilities in most cases. After conferring with Asari scientists, Terran investigators found that the Ardat Yakshi were considered a menace to Asari society due to their killing of mates upon engaging in a meld. However, this conflicted with data taken from Morinth, which clearly showed that she and her bondmate had engaged in melding activity on multiple occasions, with neither partner coming out unscathed. Eventually, it was found that Ardat Yakshi, upon engaging in a meld, created a powerful mindfray like pulse that overwhelmed their partner's mind, killing them. It turns out that Morinth's partner had been training her to control her psi-abilities, thus allowing her to function as a normal member of society. However, as the Asari lacked the facilities required to train Ardat-Yakshi, the Terran Alliance offered to step in and provide psi-training to all existing Yakshi in Asari space. However, negotiations nearly broke down when an Asari Justicar attempted to assassinate Morinth, although human response teams managed to subdue and incarcerate Samara, who was found to be Morinth's mother through psi-interrogation. This event began to sour relationships between the Asari and the Terran alliance, the latter of which attempted to push for legislature restricting the movement of Justicars to Citadel space. Asari defended the Justicar order with what would be termed the 'Batarian excuse', which entailed claiming that the Justicar order was an integral part of Asari culture and could not be altered. The human response could be boiled down to 'Deal with it', thus proving that they would not bend on the matter. While the two powers have remained officially friendly, there is now a race to match the humans, both technologically and genetically, on the side of the Asari, in an attempt to prove that they are in fact the superior race.

* * *

**October 7th, 2171**

The Salarian and Asari fleets had finally finished their overhaul of existing vessels, the Asari capitalizing on their massive stores of Element Zero, while the Salarians using Zrbite in a fusion of Human and Salarian technology. While the Salarian fleet had been primarily focused on intelligence gathering pre-human contact, it had shifted to incorporate a more conventional form of ship makeup, now containing far more Dreadnoughts and cruisers, all armed with state-of-the-art laser weaponry. Meanwhile, Asari fleets used Mass Effect technology, their ships being the epitome of pure mass-effect tech. Both races now began to step up production of new warships, intending to create a fleet that not only would allow them to stand against the Ancient Ones, but also rival the Terran Alliance's own military strength.

* * *

**July 23rd, 2176**

The refit of the Quarian migrant fleet and the Geth armada finally reached completion, three years overdue. While the Quarians possessed nearly 50,000 vessels, the state of disrepair those ships were in delayed full refits, and even caused several hundred vessels to be scrapped entirely. The Turian protectorate, meanwhile, had managed to construct its first 'True' Dreadnought, the Vindication, as well as having re-built a quarter of its pre-conquest military strength. Meanwhile the Geth have unearthed and destroyed a fully intact Ancient One on Rannoch, narrowly avoiding a disaster involving the release of Ancient One nanites into the Rannoch ecosystem. Finally, the Rachni have begun building warships,

* * *

**Galactic Military Assets as of 2180**

Human- Forming the bulk of the Terran Alliance military, the Humans are considered by many to be the most advanced race in the galaxy. Their giant dreadnoughts and extremely disciplined and well equipped troops make their military a force to be reckoned with. Mastery of hard light allows them to mass-drop millions of outsider crystals on any ground target, overwhelming their foes with millions of disposable shock troops. XCOM forces are equally adept on land and in the water, equipped with the best technology in the galaxy, as well as having extensive genetic modification and psionic capabilities, both of which are growing stronger with each generation. Humanity has begun production of the new 'Pinnacle' class Dreadnought, as well as the 'Epitome' class Artillery ship, both of which are expected to have their first set finished by 2182.

Muton/Ethereal- The Ethereals and Mutons, rather than possessing their own military, are integrated into special units in Human forces, with the Ethereals being psi-specialists, operating psionic amps on warships and acting as psionic artillery pieces on the ground. Meanwhile, Mutons fight alongside humanity as frontline infantry, using their augmented bodies to act as heavy weapons specialists. While they lack the psionic power of humans and ethereals, the Mutons are heavily augmented physically, both from their time as Ethereal slaves and by human meld-based gene mods. In addition, some Mutons voluntarily undergo 'Floater' cyber-augmentations, involving the implantation of grav-harnesses into their bodies, giving them highly efficient personal flight ability. Supplementing Floater units are Muton MEC units, utilizing Clibanarius MEC suits, which were human Cataphract MECs with psionic amplifiers replaced by powerful Mass Effect field generators, giving Muton MEC troops powerful abilities equating to Biotics.

Eli'ranas- The Eli'ranas are the intelligence arm of the Terran alliance, their space forces consisting primarily of scout craft and spy drones. While these ships are well armed and equipped with their own dimensional gate generators, they do not stand up on their own in space combat. The few Eli'ranas capital ships are designed for speed and agility, rather than armament and armor. While they carry powerful fusion lances, they are not very well protected, designed to avoid enemy fire rather than take a hit. On the ground, Eli'ranas use numbers and overwhelming amounts of non-sentient drones to overwhelm their enemies, while the drones' controlling overseers stay safe in the back line.

Rachni- The Rachni currently field the smallest military of any Alliance member race, currently only having ten warships fully completed. Utilizing human biotechnology, Rachni warships are grown rather than built, a time consuming process. While knowledge taken from the old Micronoid shipyards have proved invaluable to the Rachni shipbuilding industry, it is estimated to be at least five years until the Rachni have anything resembling a significant military force.

Krogan- The Krogan fleet is next to nonexistent, being even smaller than that of the Rachni. However, with the Genophage cured, the Krogan now form a significant portion of the Alliance ground forces. While meld-based augmentations have not yet been introduced in significant numbers, the formidable natural ability of Krogan makes them highly effective heavies in battle. On a side note, the Tuchankan Lesser Striper Thresher Maw has experienced a significant drop in population numbers following the increase in the amount of Krogan undergoing the rite of passage. When questioned, Lord High Environmentalist Urdnot Ganx reportedly gave a reporter a Krogan-built flechette cannon, and told her to 'Bag a few for research.' However, Human scientists have been attempting to weaponize Thresher Maws for use in conjunction with Krogan forces.

Quarian- The Quarian Migrant Fleet is still the largest fleet in the galaxy, numbering at forty thousand warships post-refit. The old liveships have been converted into Artillery Dreadnoughts, considered to be some of the most powerful ships in the Terran arsenal. These ships are bristling with powerful disruptor weaponry, and contain a powerful artillery cannon. This Artillery cannon utilizes a combination of elerium gravitational acceleration and mass effect fields to launch a fifty kilogram slug at .3c. In addition, the latest slugs contain 4 kilograms of antimatter, which makes the Artillery cannon the most powerful weapon of war to date. While Artillery Cannon are also installed on Turian and Geth warships, the Quarian liveships are unique in that they also carry secondary armament on par with that of 'True' dreadnoughts. Smaller Quarian vessels, meanwhile, have been converted to point defense destroyers, which provide screening against enemy fighters and missiles, and 'Psi-boats', which carry powerful psi-amps, and are designed to provide psi-support to the larger ships in the Alliance navies.

Geth- The Geth possessed a fleet that was almost on par with that of the Turians before the latter were defeated by the Terran Alliance. After integrating into the alliance, the Geth underwent a massive overhaul in the military field, eventually converting almost all their warships into fighter carriers. Geth military strategies involve swarming the enemy with overwhelming amounts of fighter power, using the small craft to deliver powerful plasma charges capable of destroying capital ships. Geth Dreadnoughts have been converted into powerful artillery ships, carrying two Artillery cannon per dreadnought. However, this heavy armament comes at the cost of point defense weaponry, of which these Geth artillery ships have none of. Thus, the Geth rely on fighter screens for point defense purposes. On the ground, Geth mobile platforms are adapted for a variety of combat roles, with Colossi and Armatures being extremely effective walker units armed with low caliber fusion lances. Almost every possible niche of ground combat has a Geth mobile platform specialized to fill it.

Cyberdisc- While the Cyberdiscs themselves lack a proper fleet, they are invaluable in the form of ground support drones and fighters, the newest 'Fury' fighter designs being designed to integrate with Cyberdiscs directly. This has resulted in about half of the Alliance small craft being fully Cyberdisc operated, while on the ground Cyberdiscs are utilized as living tanks, armed with plasma cannon and mortars.

Turian- While the Turian fleets are at a fraction of their former size and strength from a numeric standpoint, they are far more advanced technologically. The Turians possess three 'True' Dreadnoughts, as well as twenty Artillery ships, along with several thousand Cruisers and frigates. While the Turian protectorate is far from its former position as the peacekeeping army of the galaxy, it remains a viable military power in the Terran Alliance.

Asari- The Asari military is now the primary defense force of the Citadel council. They still utilize conventional mass effect technology, only utilizing zrbite when it is absolutely necessary. Powerful kinetic barriers, silaris armor, and Thanix guns make their ships a force to be reckoned with, with no corners cut in warship construction. The Asari military strives to embody the spirit of the Asari people in general, attempting to be both superior to all enemies, and elegant at the same time. On the ground, the Asari military operates in small, self-sufficient units of highly trained commandos, their innate biotic power, amplified further by the latest military amps, making them formidable opponents.

Salarian- The Salarian military has a reputation for only using the most cutting edge technology available. This still holds true in today's military, as Salarian ships use powerful laser cannon as their main armament, while their ground troops likewise use laser weaponry. However, after the Turian conquest, the Salarian military has gone through a noticeable shift in focus, beginning mass production of capital ships and beginning the training of large armies, rather than the more specialized pre-human contact STG. While the STG still exists, it is no longer the primary ground force of the Salarian union.

Hanar/Drell- The Hanar Illuminated Primacy's fleets are composed largely of automated warships, largely due to Hanar being an aquatic race. Thus, they would require waterproofing of all starship systems, which would not be feasible. However, technology shared by the Humans has allowed the Hanar to build true automated capital ships. Meanwhile, the Drell of Kahje are the primary infantry arm of the Hanar, as Hanar physical strength leaves much to be desired. With Kepral's syndrome a thing of the past, Drell specialists are now able to live full lives, and serve for much longer in the military.

Elcor- The Elcor fleet is relatively small when compared to the Hanar or the Volus, possessing few combat capable capital ships. However, Elcor physiology allows them to be deployed as 'Living Tanks', which, when coupled with powerful Salarian-built laser guns, turns Elcor into extremely effective soldiers.

Volus- The Volus are still the economic arm of the Citadel, a position that has only strengthened with their recent gaining of a council seat. The Volus fleet, while small compared to the Asari or Salarians' own militaries, is the largest fleet of the three races that were recently granted a council seat. However, the Volus' unique physiology prevents them from fighting effective ground wars, forcing them to rely on other races for fighting land wars.

* * *

**A/N: Regrettably, there will not be a library entry for Wh40k, as with due consideration, I have decided that it will be, of lack of better words, GODDAMN OVERKILL, as well as difficult to integrate into the story itself (Wait, how did the Ethereals defeat the Eldar, Imperium of Man, Chaos, etc. and not beat the Reapers yet?). I made this decision while writing a draft where humans got space marine augmentations, and I eventually thought "To hell with this, might as well give them Kryptonians next. My humanity is OP, but not THAT OP."**

**On a different note, this is the last chapter in the 'Contact' arc, with the chapters afterward taking place in ME1 onward. **


End file.
